Chapter 1
As the sun was setting over the horizon, its orange radiance caressed the wayward streets of Zaun, glistening in the contrasting eyes of a scarred and deeply wounded man, his still human looking one standing in stark contrast to his more monstrous one, although the light and darkness within them seeming, in this moment, in harmony with one another, as Silco was looking over yonder, pondering to himself.
“So many years, I’ve been fighting, old friend. Working so damn hard to keep this waste of a society from crumbling into the dust.” His words resonated with both rage and sorrow, yet there was hint of clarity in his tone, his voice resounding across the streets and alleys, and likewise in Jinx’s ears, as she approached Vander’s statue, intent on knocking her foster father out and kidnapping him, so that he’d be the final puzzle piece for her planned reunion.
Her ego had been shattered to numerous pieces, Jinx and Powder battling within like never before, her body wrapped in pain and warped in agony, as she twitched and spasmed in both pain and anticipation. Yet, in a moment of clarity, the girl thought to at least see what Silco was blabbering on about, as she would put it. It was one of the rare moments where he thought he was alone, and who knew what he’d reveal during his monologue.
“I’ve ploughed through so much pain and anguish, and I will keep ploughing through and rise above it all, no matter what. I did so many things ill things, telling myself that it was all in the name of progress. All for the liberation of Zaun. Hahaha!” He raised his head and chest, soon to rise up to his feet as he shouted those words, laughing as he did, before nodding to himself, as he turned to look at Vander’s statue over his shoulders.
“They accepted my offer, you know. A seat at the table. Clear access to the hexgates. Zaun, as its own nation, rather than a proxy. All we’ve ever wanted for our people, and so much more, brother.” He clenched his fist, before sighing to himself, as he turned to look once more over the horizon. “And what do I lose, but problems? And yet…”
Jinx’s eyes widened, the girl baring her teeth as she saw him grab a locket from his jacket, opening it to look upon an old picture of him and Jinx, both smiling as he helped her with her braids.
“Oh, whatever could be more undoing for a man, than his own daughter?”
It was in this moment, that Jinx was just about to leap at him and strike, but as she raised her hand, her eyes opened wide with shock, at his next words, and the determination and resolve with which he spoke, his hand tightened up around the picture, as he held it close to his chest.
“I will never give you to them. Not to anyone. Not for anything.”
The world around Jinx began to shift at the revelation, her eyes darting fast in all directions, as her entire body started shaking and contorting, before suddenly relaxing all throughout, as she realized that she, indeed, was loved. Despite the unhealthy relationship between them, and all the wrongs they’d done towards each other… she was loved; and she loved in return.
“And I’ve come to realize, old friend. What has become of Zaun, since our feud ended? A petty and pathetic city, that feeds on the suffering of others. Not too unlike Piltover, except with a façade that actually reflects its current nature. A nature I intend to change.” With that, he straightened up his back once more, taking in a deep, deep breath and smiling to himself, so wide and so sincerely, like he used to do during the good old days. “What is the nature of a society, if not an amalgamation of the nature of the people who comprise it? And if continue as I have, wallowing in my own anguish, trying to find relief by inflicting it on others… so much for the liberation of Zaun, I guess. So, if I’m to truly live up to our dreams, then no more shortcuts. No more bullshit. Instead, I will strive to do what is right, no matter fuckin’ what. Blisters and bedrock, old friend. Blisters and bedrock.”
He laughed aloud, roaring with resolve, and thinking that he’d heard Jinx doing likewise, as he turned around to look and see if she was there, although she’d already departed.
***
A familiar melody was ringing in Vi’s ears, as the young woman was gradually waking up, her head ringing and convulsing, in a daze.
“Hey, there, stranger.” Jinx greeted her sister, in a playfully gruff voice, although her eyes were firm and studying Vi’s every move and every gesture, every twitch of her eyes and everything about her, as she stood crosslegged on the table, right in front of her. “Fancy meeting you here. Care for a spot of tea?”
“Powder?” Vi reached out to hug her sister, but soon found felt the pain around her joints, as she realized that she was tied up to the chair. “Powder. Are you… what is all this?”
“What do you mean? Look around.” Getting off the table, Jinx roughly grabbed her sister’s face within her grip, clutching her cheeks as she pulled her head to look across the room. Then, as she took in the sights, she realized that they were in the Silco’s old warehouse, now desolate and abandoned. “See? It’s a happy, happy, fun reunion. There’s a seat for everyone, and everyone’s invited. Oh, and get this…” She flung a lighter across the length of the table, lighting up all the candles and revealing the mockingly “wholesome” scene she had laid out before them, before turning around and going into the shadows, soon to bring forth the wheelchair on which Cait was tied, who was gradually waking up. “Even darlin’ miss hearththrob over her has a seat, all to her own.” With that, she grabbed Caitlyn by the hair, pulling her head up so hard that her neck almost snapped, before slamming the girl head upon the table, a loud thud echoing across the hall.
“Powder! Let her go. She’s done you no wrong.”
“Done me no wrong?!” Her body started twitching and convulsing more violently upon hearing those words, grabbing the girl’s hair once more and pulling her up to show her face, as she grabbed hold of her cheeks, glaring at Vi as she spoke in a hoarse, angry tone. “Done me no wrong?! She’s an enforcer! She’s a lapdog for the enemy! And she… she’s trying to tear us apart! She’s trying to steal you from me! I’ve only recently even discovered you were even alive, and… and… ”
Vi’s eyes widened, her breath stuttering and pulse hastening, as tears started flowing from both siblings’ eyes, Vi realizing just how much her little sister missed her.
“I’m sorry, Powder!” She yelled out, reaching forth and meeting Jinx’s glance, her words stinging through her sister’s heart, not to pierce through it, but rather to undo the knots that twisted it for so long. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there! I’m sorry I abandoned you! I never should’ve done that. There’s hasn’t been a single day… a single moment, where I didn’t think of you, even as I was rotting inside that wretched cell. One of the only things that I used to keep me going, was the thought of seeing you again, one day. And now… I’m here, Powder. I swear I’ll never leave you again.”
Jinx froze up, her two personas battling each other for whether or not to consider this a ploy or to see it for it for what is was, although the girl soon shook her head and then approached her Vi from the front, the two looking in each other’s crying eyes.
“Are we still… sisters?”
“Yes, we are. Nothing in the world is ever going to change that.”
Upon hearing those words, Jinx felt a wave of clarify flow all throughout, the girl wrapping her arms around her sister, untying the knots and soon thereafter sighing in a kind of relief she hadn’t known in many years, as she felt Vi return the genuinely heartfelt, soothing embrace.
“Step away from her!”
Suddenly, Caitlyn’s thoroughly unpleasant and grazing voice echoed in Jinx’s ears, he smile turning to a frown, her composure loosening with a determined snarl.
“Great.” Rolling her eyes, Jinx stood up to her feet once more, taking a step in front of Vi in a gesture of affection and protection. “You’re still here, I see.”
“I said move! Or, so help me, I’ll put so many holes in you…”
“No. You won’t.” Vi spoke up, raising her tone and likewise stepping in front of Jinx, although soon found herself pushed to the athwart by her sister.
“Hey. I’m old and capable enough to handle this on my own, you know. You’re not stealin’ my spotlight, sis.”
“Well, just so you know… you ain’t stealing mine, either.”
The two sisters smiled to each other, like they did so many years ago, with the two now standing right next to one another, as equals, facing Caitlyn, who held up Jinx’ minigun towards both of them.
“Vi! What’s wrong with you?! Don’t you see she’s trying to trick you?! She’s deranged. Volatile! How long do think it’ll be, before she turns on…”
Suddenly, Cait’s words were interrupted by the sound of a pistol clanking in her ears, as Silco stepped forth from the shadows, holding his gun up to her head.
“My, my, my… who knew a trip down memory lane, would lead to such… new experiences.” He laughed, grinning to himself, before rolling his eyes and snarling at Caitlyn, pushing the gun against the back of her head.
“Silco, you utter piece of shit! You can’t help but try to ruin everyone’s life around you, can you?”
“Not everyone’s!” Jinx spoke up with firmness and determination, stepping in front of her sister, walking straight up to Caitlying and glaring wickedly into her eyes with sheer disgust, gritting her teeth to the point her jaw began to ache, before rollingher eyes and sighing to herself, an unusual relief coursing through her, as she turned her glance towards Silco. “You know… how about we try to not let grievances, like, cloud our judgement or whatever…”
“There are no more clouds over my mind. But she is an piltie lapdog. Whatever she learned here, she’ll deliver to her petty handlers in the council.”
As the two continued talking, Vi used the opportunity to slowly move about, trying to get an angle from which to tackle Silco to the ground, nodding to Caitlyn who immediately caught on to what she was trying to do, slowly shifting her head to obscure Silco’s sight of Vi, while still clenching on the minigun and pointing it right at her abdomen, trying to use that as a focus of their attention, in case it veered from one another.
“Maybe… or, who knows? Maybe she’s redeemable. Maybe she’s not so much of a monster, as we think she is.”
Caitlyn growled at those accusations, her breath hastening as she bared her teeth. How would they accuse her of monstrosity, when they did so many bad things to their own kind?
“Us?! Monsters?!”
She snapped, the recent trauma she’d been through surging through her, as she put her finger on the weapon’s trigger, ready to shred Jinx to pieces.
“No!” Vi shouted, the world seeming to slow around them, as she lunged forth with all her might, as Silco turned his sights towards them, and reflexively pulled the trigger, his shot firing in sync with Jinx’s own weapon.
However, neither of the shots would land on their intended targets, the hail of bullets narrowly missing Jinx’s side, as Vi firmly pushed straight into Caitlyn, while the single projectile from Silco’s gun went right between the streaks of blue hair and Vi’s forehead, the old man’s eyes widening with shock, as he realized the bullet hit his daughter.
“Jinx!” He pushed passed the two women, taking Jinx into his arms and thoroughly inspecting her wounds, the girl’s face bleeding profusely, her left cheek torn to shreds, revealing her teeth and the insides of her mouth, as she groaned and twitched in pain. “Are you… I didn’t…”
Silco stuttered, removing his jacket and then trying to stop the bleeding in whatever way he knew, utterly concerned for her well being, until an unusually warm touch caressed his scars, Jinx’s smiling as she pulled his head towards hers, bringing their foreheads together, as she started crying… not from the pain in her cheek, not from the all trauma she’d experienced thus far… but rather, in sheer and utter joy, even more so as the old man returned the sweet, loving embrace.
After a while, the two rose up to their feet, just when Caitlyin finally released herself from Vi’s grasp, once more pointing the minigun straight towards them.
“Oh, how touching. You think you’re just going to walk away from… argh!”
Suddenly, Cait’s head reverberated as she spun around from Vi’s firm punch, collapsing to the ground, as the redhead took the large weapon in her own hands.
For a brief moment, she thought to shoot Silco and Silco alone, but having how both of them were trying to protect the other, it very much reminded her of her own love for Powder, her expression loosening before her composure straightened up once more, raising the weapon in the air and throwing it far away across the room.
“Silco… if you’re lying to her… if you’re manipulating my sister for your own ends, I swear that I will find you… wherever you are, I will find you and kill you myself.”
“Hahaha! What’s stopping you from trying now?” He goaded her, looking into her eyes with a smug grin, although not entirely without appreciation for the girl’s resilience and empathy.
“He’s my father, Vi! If you trust nothing else about him, trust that he will never betray me.”
“How are you so sure, Powder?!”
“He threw away the biggest opportunity of his life! And you know why? For me!” Jinx began to cry, utterly relieve that she was loved, yet likewise almost regretful that she may have caused his downfall. “He threw out all his plans. All of ‘em! Right out the fuckin’ window! For me, and me alone! Because he loves me with all his heart. He is my father, and nothing in the world is going to change that.”
Her words shocked both Silco and her sister, with the former nodding to himself, as Vi cringed in disbelief.
“How far did you let this douchebag in your head? How would you know that?” Then, just as Jinx raised a hand to explain, Vi continued with a revelation. “He tried to kill me! Just so that you wouldn’t find out I was even alive! So he can keep you all to yourself, as his precious, pretty little tool!”
Jinx paused for a brief moment, looking back at him, rage bubbling up inside her, but before he managed to confess, Jinx smiled and clarified it in his stead. “Not as a tool. But as a daughter he didn’t want to lose. That said, that was some petty ass bullshit you tried to pull, Silco.” She snarled at him, before loosening up once more. “But, he made up for it. In spades.”
“Oh, really? That’s rich. Did you chant into her ears at night? Did you gaslight her into…”
“He was offered everything both he and Vander ever wanted. We won against the pilties, Vi.”
“Who… made you the offer?” Caitlyn gradually rose up to her feet, exchanging glares with Vi, before shaking her head and turning her glance towards Silco once again. “And what did it entail?”
Thus, Silco explained, the revelation putting both Vi and Caitlyn in a rather ponderous position, while he was helping clean and bandage Jinx’s torn up cheek, using the small first aid and make up kit he always had with him,
“Then, isn’t the answer clear?” Said Caitlyn, all of them now sitting at the table and conversing, although still with tension in the air. “You could come with us?”
“And what? Rot inside stillwater?”
“Would you not do it for your people?”
“For my people? Whatever gave you the erroneous impression, girl, that any living being’s life is somehow “mine”. Or anyone else’s. Or, that most of the vermin of the undercity are even people, to begin with.”
He spoke with such ire and disdain, that Vi and Caitlyn were shocked by how he described the ones he worked with, with only Jinx seeming unsurprised.
“If you hate your… the people of Zaun so much, then why seek to liberate them, for so long?”
“Liberate them? Oh, sweet innocent child… everyone is responsible for their own liberation. What I seek is to create a world where people come together in harmony, helping themselves grow and likewise each other, both in principle and for the sake itself of doing so.”
“I think I see how your… daughter ended up the way she did.” She and Jinx both snarled at each other, before the conversation resumed. “Your words and actions don’t actually match.”
“I… agree. I realize I’ve made mistakes.” He said, reflecting on his past. “And, honestly, I don’t exactly know how to proceed. On one hand, if I go with you, it would be against whatever self respect I have. It would likewise be a error of strategy. What’s to stop your petty handlers from seizing the opportunity, and come rushing in when my associates rip apart the undercity, with their petty feuds?”
“Why do you keep calling them handlers?” Caitlyn slammed her fist against the table, both Jinx and Silco’s lips broadening with a wicked grin.
“That is what they are, are they not? Do you really think they care for you? Or for the cattle that still pay their monthly tribute to them?”
“You had Jinx kill numerous innocents, just to steal a hextech…”
“Nope. That was all me… cupcake. Hahaha! And I killed no innocents, whatsoever. Only some badged thugs. And I’ll gladly do it again, and again, and again.”
“Guys!” Vi slammed her fist against the table, trying hard to keep her wits about her, as she tried to think of what to do and feel if it was right. “How about… we let go of our squabbles, for now. Caitlyn. I won’t let you or anyone have my sister. You can count on that. As for Silco…” She turned to glare at him, snarling at him as he taunted her with a smug grin. “As much as I despise him… he’s right. I know how fucked up this place is. But who knows… maybe we’ll somehow manage to turn it around. We should definitely try.”
“Agreed.” Both Jinx and Silco nodded in unison, with Caitlyn shaking her head and being thoroughly convinced that they were lying, even though they were actually being genuine, before turning her glance towards Vi, her expression loosening upon seeing the hopefulness inside the redhead’s eyes.
“Then… I guess there’s nothing left to talk about, tonight.” With that, Silco rose up to his feet and took an empty wine glass in his hand, twirling it in his grip before then raising it into the air, in a mock toast. “Well, here’s to whatever future we’ll all bring about.” With that, he casually threw the glass athwart, before getting his gun out and playfully pointing it towards Vi and Caitlyn, smirking at the piltie’s worry and then nodding in appreciation of Vi’s bravery, then to turn towards Jinx and give her the weapon.
“I trust you’ll make it home in one piece, yes?” He said, smiling with confidence in both himself and her.
“Don’t I always?”
With that, the two parted ways, nodding to each other with a smile, before the three girls were left alone to talk.
However, few words would actually be exchanged, grunts, snarls and rolls of the eyes comprising most of their sentences.
“Doesn’t it hurt?” Vi asked, trying to ease the tension, and likewise satiate her own curiosity and ease her worries, what with how casually her sister worked through the pain, barely even wincing, and instead grinning widely with a smug, yet firm resolution in her eyes.
“I hope it hurts like hell.”
“Hahaha!” Jinx laughed at Caitlyn, rolling her eyes before turning her gaze towards Vi. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ve been through so much worse, and just as how I’ve overcome it, I’ll overcome all obstacles, no matter fuckin’ what.”
The two nodded to each other, Jinx appreciating her sister’s care, with Vi recognizing Powder’s resolve and how she’d grown so much since she was a kid; however, for a while longer, their awkward tension once more rose up to the surface, Jinx and Caitlyn snarling and growling at each other, before both eventually had enough and rose up to their feet, almost in sync.
“Well, I guess there ain’t a whole lot left to talk about?”
“I guess there isn’t.”
“Well, well… I’m glad we agree. Now, how about you fuck off?”
“Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on wasting too much more of my life, on your rotten streets, anyways. Wench.”
“Hahaha!” Jinx laughed, shrugging off the remark. “Not even worth wasting my breath on, from here on out. Come on, sis. We’re leaving this joint.”
“I’ll catch up.” Said Vi, prompting Jinx to pause for a brief moment.
“What? You’re not coming with?”
“She’s my friend, Powder. Whatever you may think of here, she is not to blame for what Piltover has done to us. Believe me, it was hard to admit that for myself, but… she’s my friend. At the very least, I’ll see to it that she makes it out alive. Besides, if I hadn’t met her, who knows? I might still be in Stillwater, and you’d still think I’m dead; so, in a way… she helped bring us together.”
Upon hearing this, Jinx’s composure suddenly relaxed, her eyes widening as she looked at Caitlyn in a rather different light.
“I… didn’t know that. Thanks… I guess?” She stuttered, with Caitlyn seeing glimpses of the girl that Jinx once was, smiling in the corner of her mouth, before their gazes met once more. “But, fuck you either way.”
“Same to you, witch. Go fuck yourself.”
The two snarled at each other, although a hint of appreciation started to ignite between them, as they stared at each other.
“Good. Now that we’re all buddy buddies…”
“Here.” Jinx threw Silco’s gun towards Vi. “Just in case. Now, how about you go on ahead. I’ll meet you later, at our… special place. All right?”
“I’ll be there, Powder. I promise.”
With that, the girls parted ways, with Jinx remaining at the warehouse for a while longer, pondering things to herself, as she picked up her minigun and hextech launcher, soon making her way to where she and Vi used to go together, when they wanted a break from all the turmoil around them.
“Hahaha! I guess it’ll be a while, before she starts calling me Jinx, but on the other hand…” With those words, she looked up over yonder, taking in a deep, deep breath as the sun was rising over the horizon, gradually caressing the young woman’s cheeks as she began to laugh and cry with joy. “I’m glad we’re back, sis. I’m so glad we’ve found each other, once again. Hahaha!”
And that’s where we’ll be leaving this story, for right now and such.
Anyways, etc, etc, etc, among other things…
Chapter 2
The past few weeks had been… rather odd Jinx and Silco, who had since prepared and rallied their forced and their allies for what they thought would be an all out war with Piltover, which they were both rather keen on carrying out, after so many years of back and forth deals and negotiations.
Yet, no war would come. Even more so, all of the piltie thugs had left even the little shreds of territory they’d still held within the undercity, Zaun now let entirely to its own devices.
Even more peculiar, was that Silco was now standing in the council chambers, hands crossed as he glared, with his contrasting eyes, at all of the other members.
“Infantile.” He looked to Salo, prior to then turning his gaze towards the others. “Weak. Rigid. Complacent. Stuck in tradition.” Next, he turned his glance to look towards Mel, the rest of the council snarling at Silco, although the was the only one who, judging by her demeanor, did not actually disagree with the critiques brought he had brought forth, during their discussion. “Caring, which is good. But you’ve yet to wear to claws as brightly as your smile.”
“You have done nothing but criticize us and our methods, since you arrived.” Caitlyn’s mother scoffed at Silco, to which he then turned his glance to casually look into her eyes. “If you’ve just come here insult us, especially after all you’ve done and after all we’ve given you…”
“All you’ve done? All you’ve allegedly “given” us? Hahaha! After all these years of consistently parasiting off our backs, you claim that you are being “generous” by finally having at least a semblance of conscience, to express a figment of fairness?”
“Enough!” Some of the other council members started bickering and posturing at Silco’s constant criticisms, although Mel soon raised her hand and tried to soothe the tension, having studied Silco’s every move and every gesture; and was rather surprised by his sincerity and honesty, and also strength of character. There was a deep pain within him, yet the rage and disgust he wore so evidently on his face, did not seem to cloud his judgement.
“Councillors.” She spoke up. “I may not be privy to all of the history that Zaun and Piltover have gone through, but… Silco’s words ring true. Besides, we should at least respect his bravery in having come here alone. A rather ballsy move, if I do say so, myself.” She smiled at Silco with sincerity and appreciation, with the old man raising his brow in slight surprise and intrigue, before smiling in return; after which Mel then turned to the others, clarifying if anything regarding what Silco had said was misconstrued; how Piltover had exploited the zaunites, both during and after the initial stages of the city’s development; how they’d mistreated the people of the undercity for so many years, and how they’d have been left to rot, while still being heavily exploited. “However, as a noxian…” She took a deep, deep breath, recalling past experiences, before steeling herself and continuing. “I can tell you there are far worse situations than the bad blood you folk have in common. I recognize this peace won’t be easy to upkeep at first, but I ask you to consider this… although Jinx has not been brought before us for the raid on Jayce and Viktor’s lab…” Silco’s ears briefly perked up, upon hearing that particular name, although shrugged it off soon thereafter, as Mel continued. “… if it is indeed true that she was on the verge of bombing these very chambers, but reconsidered her actions on account of her conscience, then that is a sign that people can change. I, for one, hope that, unless there is any further violence between us, we will at least try to coexist peacefully. Who knows… maybe even prosperously.”
“Hahaha!” Silco laughed aloud, before leaning forth with a smug grin across his lips. “Speaking of change and fairness and prosperity… and in relation to what we’ve discussed earlier, I propose this. Removing all the “cattle” tribute.” He looked around the room, rolling his eyes at the other’s confusion. “Oh, right… you call it “taxation”, to lie to both yourselves and the people. Others, maybe just to the people.”
Even more than any of his previous criticisms, most of the councilors went rabid at the suggestion.
“As if we’re going to stop milking… err, I mean supporting the generosity of the public. Besides, don’t you have…”
“No. We don’t.” Silco said coldly, disgusted by the greed, avarice and puerility of most of the parasites within the chamber, his words shocking the others.
“Then, how do you keep up with the costs of your vices – err… your people’s needs?”
“Addiction. Deception. Stealing. All the things you’re already doing, just that I do it openly, whereas you cloak it in a thin, pathetic veil of so-called “care” and “compassion”.” Then, Silco turned his glance athwart and nodded to himself, before glaring forth once more. “Two concepts I’d… mostly forgotten, until very recently; and on the pillars of which, I intend to rebuild Zaun into what it was always meant to actually be. Frankly, I don’t care how you view me or the people of Zaun. What I care about is bringing forth a change towards greater things. A change I choose to express by example. This change has already started, the seeds sown by this endeavor will bear fruit. That, I guarantee you.”
He said with conviction and resolve, and for a while longer, they kept up their mixture of bickering and conversation, Silco and Mel being the only ones with some semblance of principle and care, with Caitlyn’s mother seeming rather perturbed, yet also at least somewhat thoughtful, during the event.
Eventually, though, Silco left the chamber and started making his way back to Zaun, when Mel approached him, asking the scarred man if he would walk with her for a while.
***
Meanwhile, in their laboratory, Viktor was laying on the bed, his body pale and almost skeletal in its visage, his cheeks almost latching on his teeth and his eyes sunken in their sockets, as Jayce compassionately held his old friend’s hand within his own.
“How long has it been… Jayce…?” Viktor spoke up in a hoarse and gravely tone, his eyes wandering and careening across the room, looking not at, but rather through the walls and into other realms.
“How long… I don’t know. Days? But, don’t worry… I’m right here. I’ll always be with you, Viktor.”
“Thank you…” He said honestly, taking in a deep, deep breath, and then letting out a painful sigh, although his body barely even reacted to it. “However… I meant… how long has it been… since we started on this shared journey…”
His words seemed grave, and yet detached, his tone no longer sorrowful as his entire body started to relax, the weight of Viktor’s hand suddenly seeming heavier in Jayce’s palms. Confused and concerned, he looked towards the Hexcore that was floating on the workbench behind him.
“That won’t keep me here for too much longer…” Viktor spoke once more, with Jayce then immediately turning to see that his had turned his head to look into his eyes, with a wide smile.
“We’ll find a way, Viktor!”
“I know we will, old friend.” He tightened up his grip, prompting a smile to widen on Jayce’s lips, as he leaned closer, pulse hastening as he was rejuvenated. “We always do. However… life in this… suit of energy, and bone and sinew we call “body”… is not the only way to live… we are so much more than that, Jayce…”
“I know that!” He shouted, leaning on the bed and looking at his friend, through tears, as he realized this may be their last few moments together, in this form. “But there’s so much more for us to do! There’s so much more…”
“You know…” Viktor smiled, turning his head to look up once again, reminiscing as he spoke. “You remind me of a friend I had, when I was young.”
“You’re still young, man.” He tightened up his grip, but then loosened up as he saw Viktor’s looking over yonder, his live rewinding before his eyes.
“I was alone. I never knew my parents… never had any friends… I was a crippled boy, in a world of brutes and monsters… I fought hard to see it through each day… selling scraps and makeshift tools and toys… to get scraps of food once every few days. My only father figure was a cold and wounded man, who’d lost his family and had become obsessed with somehow bringing them back. Hahaha… does that sound at least vaguely familiar?”
He jested, the two sharing a laugh between tears, before Viktor continued with his story.
“Then, one day… as I was starving… I thought to steal from an old woman, who was struggling to open up a can of… what was it? Beans, I think…”
“So, did you…?”
“No… I didn’t. Hard as it was, I didn’t want to bring myself to the level of those petty creatures all around me… so, I left. Crying as I kept on walking… walking… and walking. Do you know what it is like, Jayce? To feel every fiber of your body, aching and contorting as it tries to eat itself alive, due to starvation?”
“No. I don’t. I imagine it feels like hell.”
“It does… but it’s nowhere close to how bad I would have felt, had I chosen to live at the expense of another. I’d rather die and endure all torture in existence, rather than parasites off of others.”
“Hahaha! Ironic that our research is funded by stolen funds, practically.”
“Hahaha! Ironic… that I’d somehow missed that, as I focused on my studies and our friendship. We all make mistakes, I guess; and now, I’ll make up for mine by…”
“You won’t die, Viktor.”
“That’s the thing about life, Jayce… no one makes it out alive… yet, there is existence… so much more vibrant and alive than “life”…” The young man raised his hand, looking into other realms, as he was just about to gasp his last breath in this world.
“You… didn’t finish your story… at least do that, before we part.”
Hearing those words, Viktor blinked, smiling as he turned to face his friend once more, steeling himself to fulfill this last request.
“Fair enough…” With that, he turned his gaze high once again, before continuing. “As I was walking, I had found myself at the precipice of a deep chasm… there was a wind… a recurring pulse that called towards me… I wanted to let go, but as I almost stepped into the chasm, I felt a weight upon my shoulder.”
“Aren’t you a little young, to have existential crisis, kid?”
“The first thing I told him, was that it’s not about the age… but the depth of one’s character and expressed consciousness, that propels one towards both crises and elevation. He replied…”
“Indeed… and it is also that, through which we can use any crisis to either falter, or to rise above it all and grow. Whichever you choose, is our choice.”
“There is always a choice. And the choice is always ours to genuinely make. Hahaha!”
He laughed having recalled that beautiful memory, right as Silco and Mel were walking by the door of the laboratory, which was almost closed, but open enough for their conversation to actually be heard, from close enough.
“He was a curious man… he was probably around my age now. He had a frail body, much like mine. Short of stature, yet… taller than others I had met before, in terms of strength. We talked some more… eventually, a friendship was formed. He offered me tuition… food… shelter… but, more importantly, a warmth I’d never felt from anyone before; and he asked for nothing in return.”
Silco felt something familiar about this stranger, for whom Jayce appeared to very deeply care. As for Mel, the young woman wanted to pull her new colleague away, to leave her lover and his friend to have their privacy, yet found her eyes tearing up as she realized what was going on, resting on the wall due to the nascent vertigo, and leaning closer to the door as well.
“What was his name?”
“I… don’t recall. I think he told me… and I do recall others calling him by name, but… for me… he was always “dad”… or “father”… and on the day I was to go on my first scholarship in Piltover… I collapsed. It could have appeared sudden to those around, but I’d been suffering from… an unknown illness of the blood. Or, so my doctor friend had said… he also said that I have a very rare blood type. Upon hearing this, and knowing that our blood types matched, my adoptive father decided to share his own… and thus, I lived… eventually, I left the undercity… and when I wanted to return years later, to repay him for his kindness… I heard he died in that first battle of this… cold war between the two cities.”
Silco’s pulse started hastening, wondering if this could actually be the boy he once thought lost to him, as he had focused so much on the war and strife.
“You would have been such good friends.”
As he said those words, a turbulent pulse course throughout the Hexcore, almost as if it felt his body’s life force slipping away.
“Well… at least, now I can rest easy… Jayce… knowing that I’ve lived to see the start of our dream growing roots…”
From abaft, the Hexcore started undulating, spinning in distorted, rhythmic patterns at an increasing pace, gradually veering towards the edge of the workbench, as if it wanted to lunge forth.
“I wish… you’d still here to see it… bearing fruit, as well, old friend.”
“I will be… Jayce… although, in a different form. Now, promise me… old friend… that you will live a life… worth living.”
“I… I promise… Viktor.”
In that moment, just as the Hexcore leapt off the workbench, Silco barged into the room all of a sudden, the door slamming hard against the wall, with he and Viktor looking in each other’s eyes once more, after so long, immediately recognizing one another.
As Viktor’s eyes widened, his chest started aching from the shock, his breath stuttering painfully, with Silco rushing forth and trying to help, however he might, although a wave of energy soon flung Jayce into the nearby wall, the Hexcore now hovering and darting back and forth, in all directions, as if unsure of what to do… then, after a brief moment, it exploded and then split in two, a violent and massive burst of energy coursing throughout the entire building… and as the wave dissipated, a large egg or cocoon of sorts now stood up tall, the son and his adoptive father facing back to back, their faces egressing on either side of the newborn, arcane construction.
And that’s where we’ll be leaving this story, for right now.
Anyways, among other things…
