Chapter One
"Whispers"
"Just a few more questions before we finish here, okay?"
"Why, of course. Please, ask away."
"First, let's get a few things straight. Your name is Vestos, correct?"
"Vestos, yes. Vestos Otli."
"Okay… next, do you have any relatives?"
"None that are living, no. I lost my parents at a young age."
"Right, right. And one last question."
"Ask away."
"Do you any war experience?" The question caught Vestos off guard. He wondered if he was recognized somehow, but decided to play it as calmly as he possibly could."
"No, I've never gone to war."
"Okay, that's all for the questions. However, on the topic of war; the Demacian army is looking for recruits, if you ever wish to try out."
"Is that so? Maybe some time down the road I'll sign up. But it's pretty late and I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so is it okay if we wrap this up?"
"Yes, that's actually everything I have to say. Congratulations, Mr. Otil, you're officially a homeowner!" The man put his hand out, and Vestos shook his hand, smiling."
"Thank you, sir. Have a good night."
"You too, Mr. Otil." The man turned around and left the house, finally leaving Vestos to his own. He put his bag down and sat on the couch. He had a long day, but his night hadn't even begun yet. He reached into his bag and started to dig through it. He had only brought things he thought he might need with him. He brought a LOT of money with him, which he got at the end of the journey he never told the man about. He took the money and put it in his drawer. The next thing he pulled out of the bag was a change of clothes, the only change of clothes he brought, and it was for this specific reason. He quickly took off the clothes he had and changed into these new clothes. It was a shade of dark red, and was very light. He wanted to be as agile as possible for what he was about to do. Reaching into his bag again, he pulled out a sheath. He wrapped the sheath around him, and reached into his bag one last time. This time, he pulled out two things: A mask, and his blade. The mask was also a shade of dark red, and was expressionless. He wanted his identity to be as concealed as possible. He set it down for a second, and picked up his blade. Once upon a time, he wasn't a big fan of using his blade for much, but he learned how to effectively use it over time. He put his blade in the sheath, and picked up the mask, starring at it. He knew what he had to do, and why he had to do it. He just couldn't believe that it came to this.
He sighed deeply, and put on the mask. It covered a majority of his face, with holes cut in for the eyes, and a section open for his mouth, and the rest of his face under it. Within the both holes cut out for his eyes, there were small one-way mirrors. He could see through them perfectly fine, but nobody would be able to see his eyes. Nobody would be able to see that pain that's deep in his eyes. The constant reminder that he had to sink to a lower level than he thought imaginable to become the man who's going to make things right. While things may be right around him, his mind will never be right. That pain will never leave his eyes.
He went out the back entrance of his house and climbed to the roof. For now, he was going to keep a low profile. He didn't want to make a public appearance, not yet. It would be better if he were just a whisper. He had a goal, but he wasn't sure how to accomplish it- not just yet. But he wouldn't stop until he found a way. On his roof, he took a few steps back, and then ran forward and leaped onto the roof of the next building over. This was common practice for him at this point, thanks to military training. He continued to hop building after building, until he reached the… darker part of Demacia. Even a city that's meant to be a symbol of hope has it's dark corners, and Vestos had just found one of Demacia's. He leaned over the building to look into an alleyway, and saw a blonde haired girl being backed into a corner by some random street thug.
"G-Get away from me!" The girl's voice was full of fear. Vestos recognized the sound of fear in someone's voice all too well. The voice of someone who won't do anything but quiver in fear as they lose everything. This wasn't exactly corruption, but the whispers had to start somewhere. The man continued to walk forward, and pulled something out of his pocket. Short and shiny, probably a dagger of some kind.
"I warned you. I fucking WARNED you to stay the fuck out of my sight!" The girl shrieked a little and backed up until she was against the wall. The man continued to walk forward. "I told you that I'll slit your throat if you came back here, and you did anyways. You fucking bitch." The girl lost her balance and fell to her knees, while the man continued to inch closer to her, gripping his knife tightly in his hand. "Now you're gonna have to die to me." Vestos jumped down from the rooftop and landed behind him. It was a pretty long fall, but falls like that were nothing for him anymore. It was a part of his lifestyle for many, many years at this point.
"Get away from the girl." Vestos spoke in a much lower tone, just in case anyone could recognize his voice. The man turned around and gave Vestos a cold stare.
"Oh lookie here, a lapdog in a mask coming to save you! Sheesh, you're a couple months off of Harrowing, pal." The girl slowly stood up and looked at the man in dark red. To be honest, she wasn't sure who to be more afraid of.
"Walk away from the girl, and you can leave without your fingers up your ass. Your call." This caused the man to laugh.
"So what's your idea, you can put on a mask and some suit with matching colors, and start being a hero? It doesn't work like that, buddy. Let me show you WHY!" The man lunged at Vestos, but he was able to dodge out of the way of his knife. He grunted and began to slash at him angrily, trying his hardest to hit him, but Vestos was able to dodge every single one. The man began to pant. "Come on… fight me like a man!" He struggled to breathe, he never had to actually fight someone before. He usually was able to fear people into dying without fighting back. Vestos was different, he was immune to fear. Vestos slowly walked towards the man. Seeing this, he mustered up all the strength he could and attempted to stab Vestos, but Vestos simply grabbed his hand. The man looked up at Vestos, and starred in fear at his mask. Vestos didn't want to kill him, but he couldn't just let him walk away. Vestos punched him in the gut and threw him to the wall. The man fell unconscious instantly, as Vestos began to walk towards the girl.
"Are you okay?" Vestos spoke calmly. He didn't want to scare the girl anymore than he already did.
"W-Who are you..?"
"I could ask you the same question. You don't look like you belong in this kind of area. Where are you from?"
"My name… my name is Lux. I'm… surprised you don't know me, actually… I'm pretty well known."
"I don't go out much. I have more important things to do with my time."
"Like… beat people up in random alleyways?"
"...When the time comes, I suppose." She chuckled, very slightly.
"So, I gave you my name. What do I call you?" Vestos pondered the question for a moment. He couldn't say his actual name, so he needed something else."
"Call me… Suken."
"Suken? That's… a nice name."
"Thank you, but I really must go now. Even people who wear masks and beat up street street thugs need sleep." She chuckled again, this time not as softly. Vestos bowed and walked to the wall. He jumped up and kicked his feet against the wall, pushing him towards the other wall in an upwards direction. He continued to kick himself off of walls until he was out of the alleyway, as Lux watched in awe.
"He's so cool…"
After a bit of roof hopping, Vestos made it back to his home. He slid in through the back door and changed back into the only other clothes he had. "I really need to buy clothes tomorrow…" he thought to himself, as he hid his things, making sure nobody could find them if they tried. He slid into bed after that. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day. But he had to get through it. He had to endure everything.
Anything to keep the one person he cares about safe.
