The bronze glint of Zaun's setting sun lazily weaved and bobbed through the thick smog. Several hundred feet above the ground, Ekko lounged upon a rusty branch of steel. His friend precariously hung from another beam with a makeshift harness. Together they beheld the rowdy crowd below, voices and shouts climbing the vertical jungle of twisted metal, reaching the boys' ears in a disorganized hum.
Less than a hundred yards away from their vantage point, they could see the subject of all the commotion nested in an airship docking bay: a magnificent white zeppelin, humming with blue discharges of Piltover chrono-technology. At 27 meters in length, the Tailwind was the smallest zeppelin ever constructed. Fitted with chrono propellers designed by Zilean himself, the craft manipulated time itself to reach speeds otherwise impossible under Valoran's constantly changing atmospheric conditions. It hovered proudly with its gold trimming, its sleekness shimmering tauntingly.
It had been merely a week since it had defeated Zaun's proud dirigible, the Lead Zeppelin. And after days of Piltover's celebratory festivals that echoed across the separating bay, the Tailwind's pilot dared to dock the zeppelin and deliver a speech.
The expected reaction of outrage came swiftly. Every single member of the roiling crowd attended with the sole intent to drive the Piltoverians away. It was a wonder the city-state even allowed such an event, considering the political tensions that were already present.
The magus bodyguards on loan from Demacia stood as a wall between the mob and the vessel. Coupled with the very real threat of a possible terrorist attack, their hands were full.
Ekko's eyes were glazed in distaste as he beheld the scene.
The mess and tangle of limbs, artificial and augmented as the crowd roared in hate. The constant hurling of food, garbage, and even the occasional hexplosives at the dirigible, regardless of the impenetrable arcane force field. The crowd was disgusting. Even from his vantage point could see their expensive fabrics, soiled by secretions from their cosmetic surgeries. He could see the passion physically manifested in the small clouds of spittle from their mouths, passion directed towards a pointless rivalry, passion that was absent in issues that actually mattered.
Even with the flailing of their cosmetic animal appendages, the only beast Ekko could see reflected within the crowd was a sheep.
His attention shifted to the Piltoverians within the arcane barrier. They chattered, hands articulately expressing ideas, spotless suits and skin dicing the air. Without any concern for their safety, they laughed and even pointed at the jeering crowd, sidling smoothly through their casual conversations with perfect teeth beaming. Ekko was repulsed.
They were no better than the Zaunites.
As much as his home city-state neglected its own children, the so-called "City of Progress" stomped around with their technological supremacy like a child with an expensive toy. They knew they were cleaner, more efficient, better. And they felt the undying need to showcase it. Their presence that day was merely proof of their arrogance. They were here to parade the fact that, once again, Piltover was better than Zaun at something.
But above his vexation against the Piltoverians and the Zaunites, Ekko's mind held a particular distaste for the pilot of the Tailwind, someone who was neither: Janna.
The thought of her pushed the annoyance in his heart into an emotion almost akin to the roiling sentiments of the crowd below him. To him, the wind mage was the worst kind of person you could become.
She had grown up from the slums of Zaun. She recognized its problems, its faults. She knew its corruption and crumbling infrastructure. And yet, after several political campaigns and empty promises, she left, defecting to the City of Progress.
Cowardice had a fouler stench than the brown rivers of the city's ground level. Granted, he had never seen her or heard her speak, but to the teenager, actions always spoke louder than words.
"I still don't see why you think she's so terrible," Iggy suddenly said, breaking Ekko from his contemplation. "I mean, you two share the same ideas and stuff about this shithole. You think it's corrupt, its people are lemmings, its leaders don't care, and its younger generations aren't given a chance to grow up right."
Ekko grunted, shifting his weight.
"I don't like her because we share the same ideas. I'm busting my ass here, trying to make this city worth living in, but my name means shit. Nobody will ever listen to what I have to say."
"That's not true…all of us Lost Boys listen to you."
Ekko looked over at Iggy as he hung, baby fat still prominent in his cheeks stuffed with a chewed-up protein bar. He cracked a smile and shook his head, reaching over to ruffle his friend's hair.
"That's not what I mean, Iggy."
He looked outward again, the smile tapering out as his gaze settled on the Piltoverians again.
"Janna had a name. She had power. Men clamored for her, the politicians, no matter how ignorant, they lent an ear. She understood what the city needed, she knew exactly what it's like to grow up in these streets, fending for yourself, fighting for your family. She had everything going right for her, she could have made a change, Iggy.
"And yet, she didn't. The bitch gave up. She left us for the comfort of Piltover, leaving us here to wallow in the fat pigs' waste. She abandoned us."
Ekko's face had turned into a scowl.
"Now, I have to finish what she didn't even start. She just threw her ideas at us and left. No foundation, no cornerstone. She could have changed it for us, started it and finished it. Instead, we have to start from the beginning."
Silence pervaded the air between them as Ekko left Iggy to digest. The scowl on Ekko's face softened, but the distaste still boiled. Just talking about the girl made Ekko feel a little sick.
As if on cue, the silence seeped and spread, the crowd's rowdy roars suddenly quelled. The hurling was stopped, and even murmurs became sparse. In a single moment, the atmosphere had calmed considerably, but at the same time one could feel a collective shiver run up everyone's spines as a sudden wind began to weave through the air.
Bemused, Ekko leaned forward to see the source of the sudden tranquility. It didn't take long for him to find it.
Like a radiant sun had decided to step down from its pantheon in the sky, a woman utterly glowed behind the podium on the stage. She was dressed in a dirigible pilot's gear, leather straps, goggles and all. But her humble attire didn't diminish the beauty of her presence as stood. No…floated onstage.
She had the warmest smile Ekko had ever seen, the most vibrant blue eyes.
She looked into the crowd, scanning their faces like they were all her closest, dearest friends. Then, for a moment, Ekko could swear she looked directly at him.
He gulped audibly. A gulp that probably echoed throughout the platform throughout the crowd.
"People of Zaun…thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak," the woman suddenly said, her voice ethereal, otherworldly. "My name is Janna."
From that point on, Ekko couldn't look away. The words that flowed from her lips were all jumbled into a sweet stream of incoherency. She was, by far, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. All of his prejudices towards her or any of her beliefs were completely and utterly washed away.
All he wanted to do was watch her speak. Watch her exist.
Eventually the initial shock of her beauty slowly faded, and the crowd divulged into their curses and slanders, throwing whatever they could at her. Regardless of the violence around her, Janna didn't stop her speech. She didn't allow anything to interrupt her, distract her, bother her.
Ekko couldn't help but admire that. Couldn't help but admire everything about her.
As soon as her speech was over, Ekko immediately took time by the throat, twisting it back to watch her speak again. This time, he listened to what she had to say. Her ideals were still strong, the regret in her voice for leaving her city-state behind. As if he had a say in this, Ekko forgave her.
At the end of it all, Ekko spent hours rewinding his timestream, recklessly abusing his Zero-Drive to listen to favorite segments of Janna's speech.
Finally, he allowed time to continue, watching her float away into the white cake of her dirigible. There was just something about her. Just listening to her and looking at her speak. Ekko could swear that he was…he was in l-
"Ekko!"
Iggy finally broke the teenager from his trance. Ekko looked over at him, dazed.
"Gods, you were completely gone for that whole time…I was starting to get worried," Iggy said before unwrapping a stolen candy bar and taking a huge bite. A grin formed on his lips as he chewed. "Were you really that entranced by her?"
Ekko's cheeks instantly flooded with a blush. He thanked gods for the darkness of dusk to mask it.
"No…h-her speech was just good, alright?" he said, looking off towards the crowd again. The mass of Zaunites had begun to disperse. A few committed naysayers still hurled their insults and curses, the murmur of profanities considerably quieter. "Her speech was just good."
Ekko shook his head. He didn't know what it was about her that drove him to this state. He never used the Zero-Drive like that before. He looked at its state, steaming, almost cracked. He'd have to reinforce it when he got back home.
He could feel Iggy's smirking face tearing right through him. Leader of the Lost Boys or not, Ekko was still a terrible liar. All of the other kids knew it, and they could always see through to whatever he was hiding. They were going to give him a mouthful if he even dared to crawl into their little base right now.
Regardless of Iggy's pestering, Ekko leaned back and allowed a smile onto his face. His heart throbbed with admiration and…something else. Something he'd never felt before.
The sun had finally set, and dusk swirled its darkness throughout Valoran. Lights of the rusty industrial spires of Zaun began to flicker like a vertical string of small stars. For the first time in years, Ekko could look at it and say that it looked beautiful. On the climb through the alleys and rooftops, he almost stumbled several times, much to jeers and ridicule from Iggy who bounced alongside him.
His mind was swirling with Janna. Her face, her voice. It wasn't like any of the lust that he saw in the scum of the raving crowd that day, what he felt was something…purer. Something akin to what he saw between his parents whenever they flirted or gazed into each other's eyes like there were some kind of beautiful stars behind their pupils.
This was completely illogical, of course. He had just seen her that day and a mere few hours before (relative to his timestream regardless of the twisting he had caused with his Zero-Drive), he had hated Janna's guts. But now Ekko was reeling, reeling with these new feelings, this new emotion that had him weak in the knees, weak in his mind.
Ekko didn't know what he was feeling, how it made any sense, but regardless of what it was, it felt good.
As he settled into the small single bed of his room after the hugs and "goodnights" from his parents, Ekko couldn't sleep. He beamed a smile to the ceiling, thinking of the face and mannerisms he memorized in that small infinity he had created with the girl onstage. He was going to see her again someday; he was sure of it.
When sleep finally found him and his eyelids began to close, the giddy grin never left his lips.
On that day, Ekko had found his first crush.
Reminder: all my pairing stories take place in the same universe, around the same time. This story in particular can be seen as a prequel for a future arc in Mutual Benefits.
Stay vigilant.
