Here is chapter 12!
I've had this done for a few days but no time to upload it. I got promoted very suddenly to a manager at where I work so they've been making me work random hours and I've been destroying my sleep habits. I have to leave where I live for about a month or so which means I'll have loads of time to write but not too sure about a computer to upload. Anyway, enjoy this for now :
"I'm glad this happened, much easier on a Sunday. Thank you again for coming, Riley, Riven," Angie's mother said, as I rolled the brush on the white wall, leaving a light blue trail behind.
"No problem. It's weird, they usually beg me to stay late Sundays but instead they don't need me," I said, as Riven mirrored what I did. Her big, white shirt had blue marks scattered throughout it. I gave her the long shirt to cover her usual white skirt since I only bought her pants.
We had, and I'm not counting out an Angie intervention, gotten our schedules changed to work a morning Thursday and take Sunday off. It was annoying to not have my Thursday off but it meant three days off in a row and free dinner with Angie's family. Angie was doing what she did best; managing the situation with her mother.
"Riley, stop dozing off. You're missing spots all over the place," Angie said, crossing her arms. I sighed.
"I haven't even started that side yet... Besides, Riven is following where I paint so she'll get whatever I miss," I said, looking at her over my shoulder. "Look at her side."
"Well, whatever, making Riven fix your mistakes like always," Angie said, huffing. "Remember you can hit him whenever."
"Be nice, Angie. He's here on his day off to help us," her mother said as she walked towards the kitchen.
"You better not think you're getting lucky or something by doing this, pervert," Angie said, in a quieter tone.
"Believe me, dating you makes me lucky enough," I said, feeling the heavy sarcasm come out from my mouth. I moved over to the corner of the wall I was painting, Riven followed.
"You infuriate me, Riley," Angie said, patting my head, making me flinch. "I think my dad's here with the pizza."
"Alright, lemme finish this side," I said, as she shuffled my hair and moved away.
"Oh, you can't eat until you finish, that's all the encouragement you should need," Angie said, heading outside as I sighed. I turned to Riven, who was hiding her small smirk.
"Having fun?" I asked, as Riven nodded.
"I've never had to do this. It's interesting. Are work hours usually this sporadic?" Riven asked. I shook my head.
"I'm guessing it's because of the holidays, it's almost Christmas," I said, grabbing my phone. It was the 21st, Christmas fell on a Thursday, which we had off anyway. Time went by quickly, I had to do some last minute shopping soon... Alone.
"Should I buy presents too?" Riven asked. A weird question to think about, no one ever asked me that.
"If you want, you don't have to. If you do, keep it a secret from who you want to give it to, it's supposed to be a surprise," I said, putting the roller down. "Alright, let's eat."
"Are we done?" She asked, standing up. I looked around; we were halfway done, it was safe to say.
"For now, we did what we had to," I said. Angie's dad was painting the top of the walls until he was sent to pick up the food so we were done for the most part. "Probably do a second coat after food unless he says otherwise."
"Alright," Riven said, standing next to me. I stared at her.
"Hey, thanks for coming. You didn't have to," I said, stretching my arms over my head. "If you wanna just relax at the house, you can. Don't let me drag you around with me if you don't want to come."
"It's no problem. Angie asked me to come as well. Did you want to be alone?" Riven asked, tilting her head. I shook my head.
"No, it's not that. I know I love being lazy during my days off," I said, yawning quickly. "We haven't seen any other champions in almost a week. You haven't felt anything, right?"
"I haven't. Do you want to go looking for them?" She asked, as I stared blankly forward.
"I... I'm not sure. I suppose we should, I don't want to keep you here if you don't have to be," I said, turning slowly back to her. "Not that I don't want you here, or something. You know what I mean, right?"
"Yes. I'm not a part of this world and neither are the other champions. There would be too many complications if our worlds collided for too long," Riven said. I nodded. "If I remember what happened before this, I'll surely remember all of this. These will be good memories I won't forget."
"Hey, food's here, let's go," I said, as Riven began to follow me.
'... Good memories?...'
I soon found myself behind the wheel of the car and near my neighborhood. I was at a red light, with Riven sitting beside me.
We finished the living room after we all ate. We spoke about random things and we got invited to whatever we wanted to do to celebrate Angie's AA degree in secrecy by her mother. Her father and I bonded over the third pizza he brought being meat lovers; only him and I ate that one. After the food. I went on mental auto pilot; I didn't remember anything until right now when I snapped out of my trance.
"Riley?" Riven's voice said. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just tired for some reason," I lied. The light turned green and I took off, quickly nearing our turn. "Want to go Christmas shopping tomorrow?"
"Isn't it supposed to be a secret?" Riven asked me. I nodded.
"We can go together. We'll just split up and meet somewhere after," I suggested.
"Sounds fun," Riven said, as we pulled into the parking spot. I smiled.
"Good, we'll leave early," I said.
It was crowded for a Monday morning... But then again, I wasn't nearly a good source for mall-related questions. I had given Riven my phone and told her to meet me at a small, easily seen playground for kids when the time read 1:00 p.m. We got there at 11:30 a.m but I couldn't stay sane shopping by myself for more than an hour. I found myself walking into a Gamestop with my headphones on.
One of the two cashiers greeted me and a man at the door asked if I needed anything. I waved and said that I was fine and just looking. Everything I saw that caught my attention for Riven, I found an alternative to. I walked in this store out of habit, I rarely went shopping by myself...or at all.
I bought a copy of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, a game I asked my parents not to buy Nicole, and then I ended up walking around the main area of the mall, looking at different stores. I actually went into a few.
There was a small Japanese styled store where they sold anime stuff, traditional Japanese decorations and swords. I watched anime on occasion but some of my friends were borderline obsessed. I bought a set of five wristbands with the five roles in League in different colors and planned to give each to my regular group of friends I played with. I also bought a small Charmander plushie; there were some very high quality ones there about a foot high and ones about the size of a hand.
I looked at the set of bracelets with a bit of question. Which one was I gonna keep? There was no doubt among... Most of my friends that I was the best top laner but recently I had been loving the ADC role along one of my super aggressive support friends. The only clear role in our group was Greg, who usually fed unless he was jungle or a tank. He was the newest to League and usually played tanks in any game he played. In auto pilot mode, I ended up in the JCPenny's... I think. Some clothing store with two levels.
At the middle of the store on the ground floor, there were stands with jewelry. I looked around and ended up buying a silver necklace with a small heart for Angie; I'd never bought a girlfriend a present for Christmas before. I looked at my iPod. It was almost 12:30.
'Good thing we decided on one to meet. I can't do this for much longer,' I thought to myself. The lady behind the register spoke up.
"Anything else I can help you with?" She asked, as I took one last look around.
"No, I think I'm all set, thank you though," I said, staring down at the bag. I was at Macy's, oops.
"No problem, have a nice day," she said, as I grabbed the bags I had and put my hand through the holes.
As I headed back into the main area of the mall, I heard a few people talking about a person playing a weird instrument outside. I turned towards the doors to the outside and saw a small circle of people. They remained there for a bit before heading into the store; I headed towards the direction. As I moved through the crowd, the people seemed to freeze. When I stood in the center, I saw Riven standing with her arms crossed, holding two or three bags and Sona, the Maven of the Strings, sitting on a bench.
"Did you feel it too Riley?" Riven asked, turning towards me. Her sword was on its sheath, which appeared whenever the sword did. I shook my head.
"I overhead people saying things," I said, as I turned to Sona. She continued to play with her eyes closed. The music was beautiful. She eventually stopped and stared up at us.
''Is it time for me to return to Valoran, Riley?' Sona asked. I knew she spoked telepathically to her summoner but it was still weird... Someone else's voice in my thoughts.
"I suppose. I can send you back," I said out loud. She nodded and tapped the bench beside her. I moved and sat beside her. I wasn't surprised if she knew my name: either she heard it as Riven said it or recognized me from frequently summoning her last season.
'I am ready to return. I am confused as to why I'm here, were others here?' Sona asked me. I nodded.
"A few have been here. Riven has been helping me send them back," I said, as she strummed her etwahl.
'I see. You seem troubled,' she said, as I stared forward. How'd she know?
"Why do you think that?" I asked, as I stared at Riven. She remained still, looking around at the frozen crowd.
'You haven't taken your eyes off her. Are you in love?' She asked. I shook my head.
"Not that. I feel weird that I'm keeping her here to help me but she insists it's alright. Also she said something that kinda... I don't know... Stunned me," I said, more quietly. I don't know why I felt the need to speak, Sona could hear my thoughts if I wanted her to.
'What was that?' She asked me.
"She said that these will be good memories for her. I guess I don't want to be a memory. I've gotten pretty used to being with her. Does that make sense?" I said. Sona nodded slowly.
'Yes, it does. You should speak with her about this, summoner,' Sona said to me.
"No. You guys need to be in Valoran and I need to be here. She doesn't need distractions," I said, standing up.
'Friends aren't distractions. She cares about you; she would not remain here unwillingly. I can't say I know Riven too much but I promise you that. You two are connected, I am not sure what you would call it, however,' Sona said, slowly standing up. 'I'm ready to return. Consider my words Riley.'
"I will... Thanks," I said, as Sona grabbed my free hand with both of hers. I cleared my mind of any thoughts for a brief moment and focused on Sona returning home. I thought about asking what she meant but she said she had no idea.
A white light began to wrap around Sona. I turned my head towards Riven, who seemed to be fine, and then looked back at the maven.
'Good luck, Riley. I know you will succeed.'
Riven and I quickly evacuated the confused crowd after Sona returned to Valoran. I let go of her hand as we slowed down to a stop.
"That went smoothly. Are we finished here?" Riven asked. I looked at her and her bags. She quickly placed them behind her. "No, Riley. It's a surprise, remember?"
"I wasn't looking inside," I said, smiling. "We can go, unless you weren't done."
"I am, we can go home now," Riven said, nodding. She handed me my phone. "Angie was writing to you."
"Oh, right. She probably wants something," I said, putting it in my pocket. I tilted my head towards the car. "C'mon, I'm ready for bed."
"It's very early though," Riven said, confusedly. I smirked.
"Oh you have so much to learn about this world, Riven."
"Riven, run in there," Angie said loudly, sitting beside Riven on the edge of the bed as Riven held the black controller and stared at the screen.
"There are many people in there, it's safer to go slowly," Riven said, turning her face towards Angie's. Angie stared back.
"No, you have to show no fear. The element of surprise is key to winning in these kind of games," Angie said, pointing forward. I leaned back on my chair as I watched the two play Call of Duty 4.
"Good aim helps too," I chimed in before being shushed by Angie.
"Don't listen to him. Just hold down the right trigger and everyone usually dies," Angie said, confidently. While I was a person to use those tactics, I still thought aiming helps most of the time.
I swung forward in the seat and moved my mouse. When I went to the main website for League, the website stopped responding. I checked the wiki and the competitive wiki both with no success. After a bit more searching, I found something; there had also been a big storm in California and Riot lost power. When the power returned, data seemed to vanish out of nowhere, which I guessed meant champions since they said summoner profiles were safe.
After a bit more searching, I found a recent Reddit post that caught my attention and, despite my disdain for the website, I clicked it. A Riot employee commented that hackers were being suspected and that occasionally random champion data returns to them such as Nami, Annie, and Kha'Zix. Everyone was as confused as I was. It seemed like the plot of a Digimon movie. Angie somehow managed to appear over my shoulder.
"This seems like the plot of a Digimon movie, or something," she said. I stared forward in confusion. I wouldn't be surprised at this point if this situation gave her the power to read minds.
"So I guess we're making progress. Eventually all will be sent back. This is crazy still, what kind of storm came through here. It wasn't that bad," I said, turning in the chair.
"Didn't you say the powers just flickered?" Angie asked, as I nodded.
"We sent another one back today. This is going to be like a second job, I guess it's good I don't go to school right now," I said, sitting besides Riven and opening my drawer full of video games.
"Get over it, you made this happen by playing so many video games," Angie said, as she laid behind us, looking at the screen. "Riven, you've been hiding there for like, three minutes."
"It's not safe to leave this spot yet," Riven said, looking back at the girl.
"Along with my third job of dealing with these two..."