Chapter 9: Family Importance

South of The Ironspike Mountains and North of The Institute of War.

"Zac!" Riven stared up at the amorphous blob's face begging for something that would bring her comfort. "You have to say something…Zac…I need you to say something!"

Zac just stared at Riven for the longest time. Then he muttered, "…Yasuo."

Riven felt her entire body shudder. "What?"

Zac set his left hand on the side of her head and exclaimed, "They blamed Yasuo for that. They chased him from his home." Zac's grip was tight and Riven could feel his hand vibrate from the molecular level. "He was forced to kill his own brother."

Her words came out like she was vomiting them. "Zac…I…" As her eyes became watery she feared the worst was yet to come.

"He was forced to kill his own family! His family!" Zac's voice was becoming more and more enraged by the second. "Why didn't you tell them it was you?!"

Riven closed her eyes in a wince. "Loyalty." She responded softly.

Zac tilted his head to the side in a quick jerk. "What?!"

"LOYALTY!" She shouted. "It was my duty! And I am honor bound to uphold it!"

Zac's mouth sealed shut and his voice came out from what seemed to be thousands of places at once. "You left Noxus! Why would you still be loyal?!"

"I'm still Noxian! I just can't go back right now! Not until I can make it better! Please Zac, please understand!" Riven's prideful words came through a bitter-tear stained voice.

Leaving one hand on Riven, Zac began to step backwards and away from her.

"Zac, NO!" Riven came forward to reach out for him.

"Stay back! Just stay there." Zac sat down, or rather congealed down onto the ground to sit. "I promised you I wouldn't let go, but I need to just think for a moment. Please."

Riven collapsed to her knees and gripped, with both hands, the strand of goo connecting Zac's left hand to the side of her head. "Zac, don't. Please…I don't…Zac just…"

Zac stared straight ahead, not at Riven, and not really at anything specific. He pondered for awhile about the last few days. How his entire life had been turned upside down by an odd set of coincidences that led to something he had never known he…he of all things, could have ever had. Someone else making him feel whole; even when he was feeling figuratively, and actually literally being, in pieces.

In a sudden flash of memory he realized what he must do. He looked over at Riven, who he hadn't actually been paying any attention to whatsoever, and took notice of her curled up on the ground in a form that would have appeared to even the most casual observer as a grown woman attempting to merge herself with a strand of gelatinous material. Her legs were wrapped around the strand and her fingers, which Zac only now could feel, were dug very deeply into his gel-flesh and gripping tight. On top of that Zac could feel her breath on his palm puffing out warmly and in an erratic fashion. She was still sobbing.

Zac broke the almost-silence with, "Riven?"

She sat up in a hurry. Nothing she had a grip on had changed so his gel-flesh stretched a little more. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was open with teeth half exposed like she was on the verge of clenching them. Words escaped her reach.

Slowly Zac reeled her in to be close to him once again. As he did so she stumbled to her feet and basically threw herself into him as she came back down. In a mad rush she began firmly clawing the tips of her fingers across his face, over and over again.

"Zac I-."

Zac placed his free hand on her mouth. "How close were you to your family?"

Her eyes seemed to almost jut out of her head. "I…" she shook her head, "I can't…"

Zac silenced her again. "Let me tell you how close to my family I am."

A few years ago. Brill. Phyleus House.

It took some time to move past Elaine. To me she had been Lily growing up, and after awhile she wanted me to use her full name because it sounded more mature. I suppose I never really took the queue that life was set to change, always.

But I was still depressed, so I would spend my evenings at the pond we grew up playing in. I never went back into the water, nor did I ever through another stone into it. All I could manage to do was sit there, hoping she'd try to sneak up behind me one day and make me feel whole once more. The day never came, but I was still too blind to see that it never would.

What happened next, I blame myself for. I was so blinded by my loss that I rarely paid my parents any attention. So one day when I came home and expected to have to deal with my mother trying to cheer me up with goodies and my father asking me about my day, and got neither, I became a little worried.

On the dinner table was a note. It read:

Attention Zaun Amorphous Combatant –

We are pleased to see that you have matured into such a wonderful creature. Your parents have come with us to help in the creation of others like you. We struck a deal with them to allow you to retain your freedom in exchange for their help. Unfortunately we are on a deadline, so your parents have already come along with us. We hope to see you soon. We would graciously appreciate your help in their incredible work. Let it be known that we harbor no ill will towards you or your parents. They were obviously correct in the manner of which they raised you. We hope to see many more creatures like yourself and that your parents can do as wonderful a job at creating them as they have you. Feel free to come at your own pace, but do keep in mind you are essential to the project. We hope that all of us can work together in peace. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Zaun Laboratories

At the bottom of the note there were two signatures with dates from my parents. They looked so perfect that I knew something was up. Looking around I found that all of the plates and bowls were upside down on the counter, and my father's tools were covering much of the floor near the sink. It wasn't the most direct warning, but I knew it was a warning. They didn't want me to come.

I took a seat at the table and set the note down. For awhile I thought about where I'd run to; or if I could just stay here. But I couldn't. I can remember thinking that even though they had raised me, I wasn't human so I started to feel like 'why should I care what happened to them' mostly because for the past several months I've been trying to push them away. I had given some thought to leaving them anyways, and now I suppose I had an excuse.

I got up and went in search of supplies I'd need, but after a few minutes I realized that being as I am, I don't really need any supplies; at least not in the human sense. So I decided to just bring something that each of my parents had given me as keepsakes. My mother stitched me a pillow when we first moved here, and my father had made a ball out of leather and couch stuffing so we could play catch. I figured they were good enough so I stashed them inside me and made for the door.

Casually I walked down the road to leave Brill, but then I figured 'why do I need a road?' and I made my way through the woods. As I was almost out of Brill, I guess my cells around the keepsakes were…stressed? They wouldn't stop; it felt like they were screaming. I tried to cut them off from the rest of me, but suddenly they took over. In a flash I lived through my entire life: being brought to life; growing closer to my creators; leaving the Zaun Labs; settling in Brill; the way my parents always smiled; learning to speak from my mother; learning what it means to be a man from my father and all his lectures; coming home from school each day to my mother's embrace; my father setting his hand on my head when he'd come home from work and asking me, "How was your day son?"; the way they tried to console me when Elaine left; all of it was flooding into my cells at once. They were my parents, all they ever tried to do is love me; and the last time I had seen them I had wished them to go away.

[ Zac breathed deep. "Let me be clear here."

Riven just gazed at him. His story must have been moving her because she was on the verge of tears.

Zac continued, "At this point my memory became a little…blurry, so my parents had to fill in the blank spots for me." ]

I remember feeling sad, and then getting angry. I don't remember what led to this, but I showed up at Zaun Laboratories somehow. My mother didn't want me to know, but my father eventually told me back in Brill.

Jay Phyleus:

Your mother and I were being forced at gunpoint by ten armored guards to create another life form like you. Dr. Parson watched us constantly from his monitoring station. I swear the man never slept, or at least had someone fill in for him.

After a few days the guards were suddenly in an uproar. They kept checking their radios, and they seemed extra tense with us. We heard loud explosions coming from outside. We feared it was a war, but when we'd ask the guards they'd tell us not to be concerned.

In all honesty, we had hoped you would never show up; but you did. I don't think you even understood what you were doing, and even though it may have been their intent to see you act the way you did, I doubt even they had wanted you to be as destructive as you were. Your mother fashioned me a makeshift radio receiver so I could listen in on the guards' band for what was happening.

Son…over and over again different guards were confirming a large violet blob going berserk against their troops. Sometimes I heard men screaming like children, and a few of the guards reporting in seemed to die while talking because their voices would shrill and gurgle before cutting out. Your mother didn't hear what was happening, but she could see it on my face.

This went on for ten minutes until the radios suddenly went silent. The guards looked terrified. Your mother looked terrified. There was no sound at all. Then came a loud thud on the far wall from the testing chambers. I took your mother by her arms and led her to the opposite side. Then another thud came, even louder. Dr. Parson came over the speakers instructing the men to take up position to fire on the wall. In a split-second the wall suddenly burst open, ten centimeters thick of steel, and a tank protruded from the hole. As the tank came out in a flash, you strolled in at a seemingly calm pace. Before a guard could scream fire you hardened your gooey flesh into an impenetrable shell, but your arms you left loose.

What we saw…son…what we saw was exactly what we had tried to keep you from being. Pulsing violet skin and piercing red eyes gazed out at the guards as they launched salvo after salvo of large caliber rounds at you. From your arms you let out streams of goo to latch through their armor and onto the throats of each guard in the room. You hefted them into the air and as they dropped their guns to struggle in your grasp, you squeezed around their throats so tight that their head sheer right off their bodies. All at once their corpses fell to the floor.

At this point I took notice that Dr. Parson had left his monitoring station. But your mother was fixated on you. We weren't sure if it was because you recognized us, or because you were exhausted, or a combination of both; because you took one look at us, turned back to green, and fell to the floor.

Your mother and I looked at one another and knew what had to be done next. In a mad rush your mother and I got you outside to find a vehicle you hadn't destroyed. Once outside I saw the scene of devastation and basically ordered your mother not to look; although I think she did. As I went in search of a vehicle, I found body after body ripped to shreds. There must have been two or three hundred soldiers and a few scientists amongst the wreckage. Halfway across the open grounds I took notice of a strange arrangement. From where I was standing I saw everything around that spot blown back in a nearly perfect circle, and a small indent on the ground. It must have been where you landed when you came in from over the wall. I don't know what you did exactly, but all the structures and vehicles and people nearby were covered in holes that varied in size from large near the landing to minute at the radius of what I am now convinced was your first attack within the base.

I finally found a truck in working order and drove it back to get you and your mother loaded up and ready to leave. I floored it to crash the front gate and sped down the road. Once outside I finally took notice it was nighttime. I think the base had so many lights on from your attack that it had slipped my mind. I turned on the headlights and…let me be clear, son, you weren't yourself. Just as the lights came on I started running over bodies on the road. Barricades and vehicles lined the roads, some on fire. And of course we went half a kilometer down the road over body after body until we were clear. They obviously had been expecting you, but must have, like we ourselves, misjudged just how fierce you would be.

Listen son…If you feel bad about this…then you should. What you did was horrific. I want you to see that. I want you to understand why you must never let that terrible beast within you come out again. Promise me you will never use that power for any reason.

That being said; we our very proud of you, and we love you so much. I'm glad to see that you have become a man who doesn't run from a fight. And that you are good enough a man to protect those you care about with your own life. You are going to make some woman very happy someday.

[ Zac let Riven take all of his story in. Then he asked, "Do you understand the importance of family?"

Riven nodded her head. "Yeah."

Zac sighed, "Then can you imagine what it would have been like if my parents had been killed? They were just captured; do you understand the gravity of them dying?"

She nodded again. "Yes. That would be horrible."

"And if I had killed them?"

Riven's face looked shocked. "How could you live with yourself? All they did for you! How could you even think about that?!"

Zac just stared at her.

Riven was awaiting an answer, but after a few moments she realized that he was the one waiting on her. "He had to kill his own brother, or be killed by his own brother. Either way, that's horrible." Riven buried her head in her hands. "AAAHH! What should I do?!"

Zac got a hand under her chin and lifted her head to face him. "If you care enough to understand his pain, then you should…"

"C-C-C-CONFESS?! No! They'd hunt me down! And so would Noxus! I'd be a traitor! Zac! I can't!" Riven beat clenched fists down onto Zac's chest.

Zac smiled. "Yes, I know, but forget all of them. Who deserves the truth the most?"

Riven closed her eyes. "Zac, I can't." Then she felt a gel-like pressure of two ridges on her lips. She opened her eyes to see Zac's face encompass her entire vision.

Zac pulled back just enough to speak. "If you can always be the strong woman I fell in love with, then I will always be by your side." He smiled once more.