A/N: Welcome, readers, to the sequel of PROJECT: Echoes. I've decided to put my own spin on the PROJECT universe, and hopefully it is one that many people will enjoy. I have some fun things planned with this story, and it should be longer than HUMAN was when I wrote that.
I'll save most of my rambling for the end, if you want to hear it.
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WARNING
One of the characters here has a REALLY bad cursing problem, and this chapter contains a fair amount of swearing. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Enjoy!
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Part One:
Introductions
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Or:
Of Caramel and Pineapples
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Flames, destruction, darkness, death
Anger.
Everyone was dead.
Everyone was…
He would kill them all. Every last one.
He was dead.
Reborn with a thirst, remade with a new cause.
Vengence.
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Yi woke in a cold sweat, snapping awake to a curtain of darkness. The wall seemed to sink in on him, closing closer, and he fumbled to push it back, to escape before it contained him, encased him, consumed him.
He ended up falling, landing hard on his shoulder, his lower body tangled in the thin sheets of the alcove-like bed he had been resting in. His head was ringing, so he lay there for a minute, reorienting.
"Graceful."
Yi looked up at Lucian sitting across the room in an alcove-bed of his own, cleaning his dual guns. It looked like he was sitting on the ceiling. Yi growled and wrestled himself from the blankets, righting himself to sit on the floor. Yi glared at the gunman, though he wasn't sure if the emotions were visible through his mask.
Lucian seemed to notice Yi's disgruntled glare, and the gunman laughed. "Don't worry, new kid, you'll get used to it." If the man's mouth was visible, it would have been smirking.
Yi frowned. "You did?"
"Sure. These beds are a hell of a lot better than the Containment Pods us PROJECTS wake up in," he waved a gun halfheartedly. "It's weird for the first few days out of An-sys, but you'll get used to it."
"An-sys? What is that? You mentioned it last-" Yi trailed off as he realized he didn't know what day it was.
"Two nights ago. You've been out for a while, kid," Lucian chuckled. "An-sys is a pretty complicated deal. You should ask Leo or Yas about it. They know way more than I do."
"Who?"
"I keep forgetting you're new here. Haven't met the gang," Lucain motioned to the door. "They should all be out there. Yas would normally be snoring like a bastard in the bunk above you, but sometimes he's up early. You can go meet them yourself. I have a few things to finish here."
Yi nodded, staggering slightly as he stood. As he moved toward the door, something pulled at his mind, like something was missing. He glanced back at the small room and eight alcove-bunks contained within and his eyes settled on his sword. It was leaning between two of the beds, inactive and taking the form of a thin metal rod. He quickly retrieved it, settling it into the strap at his waist. Lucian nodded approvingly at the action, and turned back to his guns.
Holding his inactive blade tightly, Yi left the small sleeping room, stepping into a decent size room. It was sparsely furnished, but had a small kitchen, a table set for six, a four person couch, and a large orange-bordered holographic screen projected onto the wall. Two people were present; Fiora and another person wearing armor so heavy it was hard to discern a gender. The other person wore a bright yellow visor and had one arm protectively on a large hunk of metal beside them as they watched the hologram screen.
"What was that thud earlier? Luci not doing anything strange to you, is he?" the yellow person asked. The voice was female.
"Leona," Fiora snapped. The other laughed. Fiora turned away from what she was doing at the kitchenette and turned to Yi. "I am very sorry about that. She's not normally so uncivilized."
"It's fine," Yi said, ignoring the glare Fiora shot at Leona.
"Well then, Fi, you want to introduce me to your rescue case?"
Fiora sighed. "Leona, this is Yi. Yi, this is Leona. Consider yourself introduced, now come eat."
Something in Yi's mind informed him that the yellow mush-like stuff that was on the plates Fiora sat on the table were called eggs. Another part of his mind found it strange that he didn't immediately know that.
Leona and Fiora sat at the table, Fiora's visor splitting into slits on the side of her head, and Leona removing her helmet. Fiora's face was a pale, pristine white, and Yi realized it was some kind of flexible metal plating. Leona seemed a normal human.
"You hungry?"
It took Yi a moment to realize the question was aimed at him. He shook his head, sitting silently next to them.
"It's alright that you're not," Fiora said. "PROJECTS are made to varying degrees of humanity. Some are almost fully mechanical, like Zed and Lucian. Others, such as Leona and I, are more human than machine, and require food more frequently."
"So which are you?" Leona asked with a smirk, "You got anything under that mask of yours, or is it all metal under there?"
Yi paused at the question. He certainly felt human, but a glance at his hands pointed toward being more machine than anything; his fingers were well-crafted metal joints made of dark metal, yet he could feel everything as if they were made of skin.
"My bet is on hot air," Lucian cut in, twirling his guns as he walked around the table to sit across from Yi. He flung his feet on the table as he leaned back, looking like he wanted to continue talking, but Fiora cleared her throat and he stopped. Lucian's feet found their way off the table very—very—quickly. Yi took the chance to talk.
"I don't think I'm hungry," he said carefully.
"Fair enough," Fiora chuckled as if the Lucian feet incident had never happened. "While we have a moment, let's talk about the plan for tonight. There will be a lot of explaining to do, as you have very little knowledge about what's going on right now. Do you have any questions we can answer before tonight?"
"Too many."
"Take them one at a time, then."
Yi nodded. "Analysis. What is it?"
"Memory Analysis," Fiora began with an understanding nod. "An-sis for short. It is the process through which your memory was altered to the state it currently is. It's a complex process that includes a lot of science and a fair bit of magic. You could say it's how PROJECTS like us are born."
Yi contemplated that for a moment. "PROJECTS. What are they?" he breathed.
Fiora frowned, but it was Leona who spoke. "That's a long story, friend. PROJECTS as a whole were the result of some research gone terribly wrong." Lucian nodded in agreement as Leona continued. "We shouldn't really exist, but we do. Whoever made us messed up, and they messed up bigtime. We were meant to be weapons that harnessed some kind of ancient power, but they made us too human. Turns out trying to make a person something they're not ends up with a bunch of jumbled memories inside of a really confused superhuman body."
Fiora cut in, giving Leona a silencing glare. "We here are the Renegades. We rescue PROJECTS like yourself and keep them safe. We don't nearly get all of them, as SHADOW proves, but we do our best." She sighed. "Later tonight, you can choose to join us on missions like the one that saved you or go to one of several safe houses we have set up around the city. We can explain more about SHADOW and how you were made, what you are, after you make your choice."
Lucian was about to say something when muffled shouting echoed down the stairs. Fiora frowned. Lucian laughed.
"Looks like he found him," the gunman smirked.
"Who found who?"
"You'll see. This should be fun," Lucian leaned back in his chair, watching the stairs expectantly.
Two men eventually appeared, bursting out of the stairway in a flurry of shouting and anger. One wore PROJECT armor and had what could only be described as a pineapple of hair tied back behind him in a haphazard ponytail. The other had dark caramel skin and simple purple and white robes. The caramel one was gesturing wildly as he followed pineapple hair, but pineapple hair was calmly ignoring him.
"Just WHAT were you thinking anyway? 'Oh, I'll just walk into the Junkyard, piss off an inventor, and it'll be all okay!'" Caramel was obviously very mad, and Yi could sense Fiora tense. "You could have gotten us all killed, you idiot!"
Pineapple kept his voice low, an almost growl that came out mechanical as it filtered out of his helmet. "I had it under control."
"You call three troops of Bots and two inventors under control? Are you REALLY that retarded?"
"I prefer the term 'confident,' thank you."
"Fuck you! If I hadn't showed up when I did, you'd be dead, and there would be no one to blame but yourself!"
"But I'm not."
"Because I showed up to save your sorry ass!"
"I didn't need saving."
"Bullshit you didn't need saving! By the Void, Yasuo, you can't go fighting in broad daylight! What if they'd followed you here? We could all be fucking dead! What do you not get about that?"
Pineapple froze, glancing over his shoulder. Leona and Fiora both slid their chairs back, as if ready to leap forward at a moment's notice. "I told you… I had it under control."
"Oh, fuck you," Caramel sneered. "And if they followed you here, what would we do? If they know, what would you want us to do? Move AGAIN? Fuck that, I'm supposed to be a pacifist of all things! I can't keep uprooting my life for you people, and I can't keep standing up for you in public, you bastard!"
Pineapple finally turned to Caramel, meeting his eyes despite being shorter by almost a head, hand resting on his sword hilt. That seemed to be the cue, and both Fiora and Leona were on their feet in a heartbeat.
"I told you; you didn't save anything, and I didn't need your help," Pineapple growled. Somehow, the sound of his low growl was more terrifying than any shout. The sword was partially drawn.
"Sae eleisa tera vi jia, you fucking asshole scumbag son of a—" Caramel growled, Leona holding him back as he strained to move forward. Some kind of green haze seemed to grow around him.
"You call yourself a pacifist and then you act like that? You motherfucking hypocrite!" Yasuo shot back. Fiora held to the swordsman's wrist, keeping the blade sheathed, despite his struggles to free it. The two continued cursing, both in English and in the strange, broken language Caramel had spoken earlier.
"Should we do something?" Yi asked quietly. Lucian hadn't moved except to prop his feet on the table again. He seemed to be enjoying this.
"Nah, they do this all the time. Just wait and enjoy the show," the gunman chuckled.
"Sauru vi ton!" Caramel spat.
"Ethiltil masonak vi asonai," Yasuo returned with just as much venom.
None of it made any sense. However, something about seeing the two strain to fight one another, being held back and reduced to spitting insults was darkly humorous, and Yi had to suppress a laugh.
"That's enough you two!" Fiora finally snapped, stepping between the two with a flaming glare. "Yasuo, you were in the Junkyard in broad daylight without telling any of us?" Yasuo didn't reply. "You MADE the rules, Yasuo. Don't you dare break them."
"I almost had it this time, Fio," Yasuo glared at the fencer, and she met his glare with equal ferocity.
"Don't," Fiora said slowly. "Break. Them."
The staring match continued for a moment before Yasuo finally growled, spun away, and vanished into the sleeping room Yi had woke in. Caramel made a motion at Yasuo's back, brushing a thumb across his teeth. Leona smacked the back of his head.
"Unneeded, Raksha," Leona growled.
"Dammit Leo, that hurt!" The man rubbed his head with a grimace. He shot her a glare.
"Pacifist, remember?" Leona smirked, releasing him and making her way back to the eggs. "Cool down, hot shot."
Fiora met Caramel's—Raksha's—gaze for a moment. When Raksha finally let out a sigh, breaking the eye contact, Fiora turned to the sleeping room. "I'll go talk to him." When she had vanished behind the door, Lucian laughed.
"Well, that was fun!" the gunman broke the silence before it started. "Eggs, Rak?"
The other man took a breath, swept his hair behind his ear, and finally looked up with a pleased smile. "Of course!" he took Fiora's seat.
The man took several mouthfuls of food before choosing to talk right in the middle of one. "I don't know this one," he said casually. He swallowed, turning to Yi. "I am sorry that was your first impression of me, friend."
Yi shrugged, unsure of what to say.
"My name is Raksha," the man said brightly. "You are living in my basement!"
"Yi, Raksha here is our public face," Leona explained. "He and his people speak for the PROJECTS hidden around the city, helping them stay safe and live in relative peace. PROJECTS are typically seen as dangerous, but Raksha and his people are trying to change that."
"I mean, just because you all seem to pop one over those masks of yours doesn't mean you're that dangerous," Raksha laughed. "People just don't know what you all can do. I mean you're semi-robotic reincarnations of ancient super-warriors! Who wouldn't be scared shitless of you?"
"We're what?" Yi frowned.
"That's a discussion for later," Leona stopped Raksha before he could speak. "Should you choose to join the Renegades, it would be Raksha here who helped you discover your past, decode your memories, and help you figure out your abilities. If not, then it isn't important. Until then, you will be taken by one of us to meet a few other PROJECTS at a safe house later tonight. After you make your choice, we'll talk some more."
Yi nodded.
"You're gonna love the house tonight," Lucian said. "In a few hours will be sunset, and then you'll get to meet the most famous of the PROJECTS who isn't a Renegade. She's an absolute idol around here, plays this really co—"
Lucian was cut off from what sounded like a child's voice from the stairs. "Raksha, can you come up here? You have Visitors!"
The way the voice said 'visitors' made both Leona and Lucian freeze, and Raksha choked on a mouthful of eggs he had just eaten, spewing them across the table. That was sufficient to unfreeze the other two, as well as release a string of colorful curses in various languages from all three.
Raksha lept to his feet, hastily wiping egg from his chin. "Be right there, Lilleth!" he shouted, "Show our guests to the sitting room, would you?"
"Yessir!" the voice replied.
Raksha's half panicked expression put Yi on edge, and he practically flew across the room and up the stairs. It only took a few seconds for the others to stand, having cleaned themselves of egg, and follow.
"This could be good," Lucian chuckled. The action seemed tenser than his previous laughs, however. He was clearly nervous.
"Where are you going?" Yi asked, worried about the growing tension in the room.
"The sitting room has a false wall in it, so we can watch what's going on. This is no doubt going to affect us, so we're going to make sure Rak doesn't get himself killed." Leona said carefully, pulling open a well-hidden panel in the wall to reveal a dark passageway. Lucian wasted no time darting into the path. Yi, however, hesitated.
Leona smiled softly. "Come on, you're going to want to do this at least once. Just be very silent."
Yi nodded and let Leona usher him into the wall.
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A/N: Alright, so here it is, the first chapter of Recollections. I ask that you all are patient with me, I'm not the fastest writer, and I don't always have my computer to type the story up, so I have a fancy little notebook that I'm writing this all in. It can be tedious to type it all back up after writing it, but I'm going to do it for all of you! As a result of this, however, updates will be few and far between for a while. I plan to make the chapters at least decently long.
I want to hear from you, though. Is this chapter a good length, or should I put more? This one is very close to 3,000 words long, but I could logically make them more like 5-6,000 if you wanted.
On another note, Raksha is one of a few descendants from the League that we are going to meet throughout this story. Since this all takes place in the future of Runeterra, I have a whole history and everything worked out. I challenge you to figure out who Raksha's ancestor is. While you guys do that, I'm going to go ahead and continue writing, or maybe just go play some League. I've been typing for almost three hours straight now, I could use a break. XD
Leave a Review if you want! I would love to hear from all of you!