His movements slowed to a stop as Viktor stared into the precious blues of her eyes. There he saw the thin veils of tears threatening to spill, felt her shivering against him, and heard her somber notes from plush lips. When she pressed their foreheads together, he stayed quiet while he digested her words. She spoke of a need to feel the world, but how when one day she would wither? He knitted his brows, for all of her experiences would be worthless when one day she would disappear, and ash would cover the earthen crust she had once walked. One day, Jayce would be erased by time, the light that would brighten tomorrow extinguished.

How misguided was she to not see this path the battle cast had forged? Viktor had taken the road untraveled and returned accomplished, triumphant. He had paved the way for everyone. He had developed the cure for Man's mortal curse.

Man was born to die, and he born for the Glorious Evolution.

Viktor remained unmoving, silent in contemplation. What should he say to a lost child, he thought. How to tell her she was growing? Transcending? Viktor churned his question further until he arrived at the conclusion that he simply could not with words alone. Rather, as the Herald, he had to show the child her way. Lead her so that this way she could experience the entire world, and he along with.

His words rumbled from his chest, the mechanized voice at last responding to her call, "Piltover and Zaun will have us forever."

'As I will have you.' he silently added.

Viktor gradually pulled his head back a bit away from her grasp to better take in her form now. Before him: a young face sweet in nature, framed by auburn locks, displayed delicate features so masterly crafted. Yet, all he saw was metal. The Herald's hands shifted until his right found her bottom, and quickly he hiked her upright, supporting her weight with just his augmentation. His leather-gloved hand stroked her, his palm finding the small of her back. With a frown pulling at the corner of his lips, Viktor tilted his head slightly and leaned closer to the defender.

"How can I be selfish when I am trying to give you something more? You cling to your humanity, because that is all you've ever known."

The whirring of gears and the low echoes of a drive shaft suddenly hummed through the floor. The platform he stood on rotated as their slow descent to the operation room began. Shadows flickered across their faces in the tight space, and behind the Zaunite Jayce could faintly discern the lower levels of the Creator's world. "Perfection," the walls whispered, the blurry images of factory machines and construction drones passing them by.

"They're welcoming you to the family," he nudged Jayce as soon as the sounds of mechanisms faded.

With that, the elevator shaft opened up to a wide hallway fitted with enforced doors, where at the end of the tunnel was the operation room.

Viktor then looked down at Jayce and closed the gap, the skull kissing her soft lips.

Metal against flesh, the Creator smiled, "I will take you."

'It's all I want to know…'

Anguish filled the young Defender's core, knowing that her words had indeed fallen on deaf ears. Her heart breaking realizing that her experience as a human was coming to a close and that she, birthed anew, would unfortunately be apart of the Herald's twisted fantasy. Forever at his side, forever locked in the bitter cage of regret. Her eyes did not wander from the helmet, the cardinal orbs that would feast upon her soon enough staring into her own. A single blink released both tears and a most weakened breath, leaving her lips parted.

The hero idled in his arms, her mind wandering the many paths she could attempt to break away from her keeper. To strike him down, to run away, to keep what small ounce of dignity was left within her. Yet she froze, unable to move from him.

'My eyes will not see… for they will be gone… just as I will be…
Gone away, locked inside a metal prison functioning as my form.
My heart will not beat as it will be replaced with gnarled steel and fire.'

Her face, a stone expression as her thoughts began to consume her. Kneading at the reaction to flee from the monster that held her so gently. She paused, realizing that he was not a monster, but a man. A man indeed. The tensed muscles in her face relaxed as her hands lifted to the sides of the helm of the Herald. The vacant stare that took her eyes held fast as her fingers searched diligently about the metal shape. Until finally, two clicks were heard and there, in her surprise, a wicked steam rolled from beneath the jaw.

'Would this end you?'

Jayce pondered as her hands began to lift the steel covering off the mask, the skull falling into place within her digits as she did and there before her, the face of a man. One of which she had seen before so many years ago. The hero's arm dropped releasing the helmet from her fingers. The sound of metal upon metal clashing together upon the floor rang through the small corridor in which he held her in.

'Hardly… then what would stop you from ruining me… taking me apart like some creature of the void….'

The ebon hair once remembered slicked back was now a wild mess, tossed about his skull, his eyes still deep with the a subtle auburn glint. Her chilled hands rose to cup his jawline. "Do not take me to that place." she whispered. Tears still streaming from her frigid eyes. "I am made to perish. Without death, what is life but a mere empty existence, Herald." Her thumbs now gently sliding down his face. "The world would be void of purpose. We would squander the eternal life. Never to appreciate the beauty of the time we have. Time is a fickle thing, given to us to make do with the time we have. To live, to love, to feel, to improve. Without that restriction, what would it be?"

The defender smiled weakly, her features still plagued by the stream of tears. Her lips trembling with every word. "What would life be but folly." Her smile widened, desperate in her need to stay as she was, to be the human in which she is than the metal creature he desired. "Viktor… Life is precious…"

And with that, she leaned forward, pulling the man that kept her away from the world towards her. For but a moment, their lips held together, the girl's fingers pressing lightly into his face.

'Please… let this be enough to give me the time I need….'

Her fingers were enveloped in the blood light emitted by the sockets as she relinquished the skull helm from his head. The Creator remained inanimate as ink locks unfurled about his face. The sheen of his disheveled hair was now gone and tamed by time. More white streaks colored his mane and more wrinkles carved away at his ripe age. There in the pallid flesh now was a haggard man, withered by the dream of immortality.

His stone, sable eyes met Jayce with a steely gaze. For the briefest of moments, like the dying spark of a flame, a dark gloss flickered across the stolid exterior of his eyes. Dangerous, black holes devouring everything in sight from the parting of her lips to the barely discernible blush that dusted her cheeks as she spoke.

He felt her shifting in his arms, felt her muscles coiling tight together ready to spring. Her body emboldened by some passion arched upwards toward him where her fingers had marked his jaw. He could not utter so much as a single word before he felt her lips upon his. Soft and feminine they were melding against his in a gentle kiss.

Viktor's free hand found her side once more, and diligently his fingers pressed into her skin. His digits felt for the delicate curve of her form, coming to rest upon her waist. The man waited for a moment longer before he pulled her away.

"If anything, death is to end an empty existence," Viktor spoke as if nothing had happened. "Time exists regardless of our existence, Jayce. Time measurement, on the other hand, is merely a man-made construct.

"To evolve simply redefines our state of living. Living an eternity simply removes the aspect of age, one of many limitations we face, not purpose. So long as we think, dream, have needs, have other limitations, life will always be filled with purpose.

"Life is precious, therefore I wish to preserve it. No longer will we be mortal Man and no longer will we need this fickle construct.

"This is for your benefit."

The Creator caressed her cheeks, tenderly wiping the tears that spilled from her ocean eyes and whispered, "Joy." In a fluid motion, Viktor turned on his heels and ferried her across the hallway. Soon, the steel gates were upon them. The half-caste pushed the doors aside and entered the operation room. White lights and the scent of sanitary chemicals filled their senses, the place was pristine. Gingerly, he laid her down on the table.

The man looked down at her and smiled, his lips still tingling. The Creator strapped her down and pulled the oxygen mask over her precious face.

"Sleep well," he breathed.