Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything in regards to Harry Potter or League of Legends. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am just a writer attempting to grow my skills.

Part Eight - Terms

Piltover - Council Chambers

Councilor Kiramman burst through the doors to the council chamber with desperation clear on her face. Before her were the rest of the council, and a dirty, disheveled, Sheriff Grayson.

Kiramman was off like a rocket, gripping the older woman's collar and shaking her as if she were a bobblehead. "What the hell happened?" She exclaimed. "Is my daughter alive?"

Hands steady with years worth of patience, the sheriff gripped her assaulter's wrists, and removed them. Then she stepped before all of the chairs and gestured for Kiramman to take hers. "If you would take a seat, I will answer those questions and more for the entire council."

Too desperate for answers to be annoyed by the lack of respect, the worried mother took her associate's advice and her seat. Once everyone else had done the same, Grayson began.

"Here are the facts of the failed invasion of Zahn. We took off from the loading berth as planned, we crossed the river in groups as planned, but from there everything went to hell. The Zaunites were waiting for us, in force. Thousands of men and women ready for blood. Each was armed, and several even had rifles. We opened fire first, but the Red Eye stopped our bullets in midair, I assume by use of the Arcane."

"Once we made landfall we were assaulted by the armed force, along with several men and women that I can only describe as genetically enhanced giants."

Heimerdinger spoke up, "Could you elaborate on that statement sheriff?"

The woman nodded to the Yordle. "They were over two meters tall, purple skinned, immensely strong, and bullet proof. Nothing we did put a single one down."

"Thank you sheriff, carry on."

"Against superior forces, weaponry, and tactics, we couldn't advance onto the beach. Our only defense was the wood of the ships that had brought us and the troops that consistently replenished us."

"If they were replenishing you enough to hold your position at the very least, what went wrong? You said before that you expected such an eventuality." Councilor Medarda asked.

"The enforcers that were still coming turned around and retreated. They saw how unsustainable our position was and made the decision to save the most lives possible. In this case by not wasting them to help us. They made the right call."

"How can you say that?" Kiramman exclaimed.

"Because I would have made the same one had I been captaining their crafts." Grayson answered, in the same calm and level voice she'd maintained since her arrival. "When you ordered this assault I told you it was doomed, but you refused to listen. Now you see what its cost was."

Before his associate could go off on a rant, Heimerdinger interrupted. "You, at least, are here and not dead sheriff. So what happened after the retreat?"

"We were overwhelmed, and about to be slain to the last man, but then the Red Eye stopped it." The grey haired woman ran her eyes over each and every council member before continuing. "There are currently hundreds of enforcers in his custody now, as well as Councilor Kiramman's daughter."

The woman in question moaned in despair from her raised seat at the news.

"I was sent back here to voice his terms for their release. He will allow you to pay a ransom for the return of the enforcers. Should you choose not to, they will be put to work in the mines to pay off their blood debt to Zahn."

"And my daughter?" Kiramman broke in.

Grayson raised a brow, but otherwise didn't comment on her interruption. "Caitlyn Kiramman is going to remain in the custody of the Red Eye until such time as Piltover signs Zaun's emancipation. Those are his terms. Along with the promise that should you sign that document, Zaun will rebuild two of the bridges they have destroyed so that you might bring food in for your populace." She fell silent at the end.

Medarda was shocked. "That is their plan now? Blackmail?"

"They tried diplomacy first." Grayson answered. "You all were given the chance to end this before resorting to violent measures. This is the result of choosing not to do so."

"We need to discuss this sheriff Grayson." Kiramman's face was a twitching mess, as if she were seconds away from losing it. "Come back in an hour for our reply."

The sheriff took a moment to see that everyone else was in agreement with that statement, bowed, and left the chamber.

Piltover - Empty Warehouse

"Are you sure about this Jayce?" Hermione asked, "We've only run simulations so far, what if this thing explodes?"

"It won't Hermione." The voice came from the tall structure above the girl, where Jayce was sitting on a hanging platform, and etching the last series of runes onto the optical rotator. A similar setup had already been constructed on the other side of the building. "We've etched failsafes into the formula. Any explosive force will be concentrated inward, not outward. We'll be fine."

On the last word the, rather fit, man pulled a lever and his platform descended to the floor, where his two partners were waiting.

"He is right Hermione." Viktor spoke in defense of his project. "Besides it is simple. All ve must do is transport one object from here to zere." He gestured to the second structure across from them and handed her an apple. "Vould you like to do ze honors? If it helps, ve can stand in front of you as shields."

The bushy haired woman nodded her head emphatically. "Yes please." She may have had her reservations, but if it worked she'd be the first person to teleport something on this planet! "Jayce, if you would?"

The bigger man nodded, raised a wrench, and tapped three specific runic points on their control matrix. Each impact created a sound, and once those sounds reached their crescendo, Hermione threw her apple into the range of the optical rotator. There was a bright flash, and then the fruit was gone.

"Do you think it vorked?" Viktor asked his compatriots.

Instead of answering they all hurried as fast as they could to the other structure, and there, lying on the ground, was the same apple.

"It did vork!" If it were possible for him, Viktor would have hopped for joy.

"Yes!" in his happiness Jayce pulled Hermione into a tight hug.

And in her happiness, she kissed him.

Both realized what had happened at the same time and jumped away from each other.

"I'm so sorry-"

"No, I shouldn't have kissed you, I-"

"Don't be sorry, it was nice-"

"Really? But I-"

The sound of loud snickering stopped their hurried apologies. Across from them, Viktor was leaning on his crutch, and trying manfully to keep himself from breaking out into all out laughter.

"What?" The two embarrassed students asked at once.

The sickly man lost his battle with his humor and broke out into full laughter for several moments. "It is just zat you've been dancing around each ozer for veeks now. By ze gods, just go out for dinner."

The red faced duo across from him looked back and forth between each other a few times, and finally Jayce said, "I wouldn't be opposed to taking you to dinner Hermione. Would you like to go?"

"Um, sure. Yeah! That… sounds nice." She was smiling bashfully at the man by the end.

Sadly, this touching moment was interrupted by the arrival of a cadre of enforcers.

"Are you the Hexcorp trio?" The lead officer asked.

In spite of how serious these men sounded, Jayce couldn't help but smile at the name. Once they'd gotten the green light to advance their work, they'd immediately patented it under a corporate identity that represented the three of them. Hextech was the culmination of their work, and it was nice to hear it being acknowledged.

In his silence, Viktor answered. "Ve are. vhy are you asking?"

"The council has requested that you come with us to their chamber. They need an immediate update on your progress."

"Very vell. Ve vill follow you." Viktor waved his crutch to his friends, and the group exited the warehouse.

Zaun - Hadrian's Basement

"I brought you breakfast." Hadrian spoke to the chained form of Caitlyn Kiramman, as he descended the stairs. "I hope you like eggs and bacon, because Jinx was on cooking duty today, and she can't make much else."

He finished his statement by placing the plate and utensils in front of the woman, before siting down in front of her.

She eyed him for a moment. "Are you going to watch me eat again?"

"I have more questions."

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, but still loaded up her fork with food. She'd talked while eating before, and she really hated cold eggs. So she decided to roll with it. "Ask away."

"You said my mother's name was Claire. Tell me about her."

Caitlyn nodded. "She has brown hair, a good sense of humor, and before you were lost, she had a beautiful smile."

A smile of satisfaction was forming on the man's face at her words. "Every detail you give makes the image in my head clearer. What else?"

"Well, she runs your family's hammer making business. I guess it was your dad's job, but he passed just before they had you. She's about my height, has a weakness for black tea, and absolutely loves scones."

"She used to take us to the park on the weekends." Hadrian whispered, a look of concentration on his face. "She said we needed fresh air, away from the forges, but Jayce and I knew she just wanted to visit the scone stall there. She has green eyes."

He looked at her then, and when he smiled, Caitlyn could only see the little boy she'd lost all those years ago. "You remember?" She whispered.

"I remember her, and a little bit more, but most of my childhood is still dark."

A thought occurred to the woman, "You could let me out of these chains, and come back to Piltover with me. I'd introduce you to your family, and you could fill in the blanks that way."

Hadrian laughed. "Nice try Cait. But until Piltover grants us independence, you aren't going anywhere." His laughter carried on for a while, until he noticed the sad look on her face.

"Oh come on, smile. Captivity here isn't so bad is it?"

"It's not that." The girl waved his words off. "You called me Cait. That was a… nickname you gave me when we were younger. It's what you called me when you gave me flowers."

Hadrian could only stare. "I gave you flowers?"

She nodded.

"Well damn. Even as a pipsqueak I had game."

In spite of her dire circumstances, Caitlyn laughed right alone with her captor. "Indeed you did. You were a sweet, innocent, little boy. What happened to you Hadrian?"

All joviality vanished at that question. The only thing that remained was the man's serious eyes staring into her own.

"Piltover happened to me Caitlyn. I grew up here, in Zaun, and I experienced its oppression beside my brothers and sisters. I watched as our labor was met with barely enough money to live. And I was forced to stand by as noxious vapors from your factories caused illness and death by the thousands. I've seen enforcers abuse innocents, and councilor's make money off the broken backs of those beneath their feet. You ask what happened to me? I chose to stand and do something about it."

He stood, "I'll be back with your lunch in a few hours."

"Hadrian wait!" He stopped. "I touched a nerve, I'm sorry, but you still have more you want to know right? Come back and I'll try to answer more of your questions."

"Fine." he sat back down and faced her. "Tell me about my brother."

"Alright, like I said before, his name is Jayce and he studies at the Piltover Academy. He also practices in your family forge." She smiled, "He never gave up on achieving a way to use magic for the betterment of mankind. You don't remember, but it was the last thing he promised you he'd do. He didn't want to break his word."

Hadrian was feeling a migraine approaching. A tightness in his skull, expanding to press on the walls. "He has black hair, a strong jaw, and big hands."

"You remember him." Caitlyn's happiness was cut short the moment her companion uttered his next words.

"I remember the man that dropped me from the bridge that day."

Piltover Council Chamber

"Welcome Jayce." Councilor Heimerdinger spoke from his high seat. "The council would like an update on your warpgate."

Jayce stepped forward and spoke, "We've built a working model."

"That's excellent!" Councilor Medarda exclaimed. "How soon can we expect its use in trade?"

"That's the bad news councilors. To make a model viable for shipping goods, it would take three months."

"Three Months!" Kiramman shrieked, "How could it possibly take that long? Our people need food now!"

Viktor chose to answer that question. "Ve can only varp items between two identical varp gates. Zat means to ship goods between two cities, ve'd need two functioning varp gates in both cities. Ve estimate three months, because ve'd need to build another gate vherever ve trade from."

The only sound to be heard after this proclamation was the slap of Kiramman's hands as her face fell into them. Finally she said, "I cast my vote for emancipation."

One by one the other councilor's did the same, until the motion carried.

"Jayce, you and your associates may go. Grayson, pass on our ruling to the Red Eye and, please, tell my daughter I love her." Kiramman's eyes were red with emotion, but out of common decency, no one mentioned it.

The visiting four citizens nodded, bowed, and left. But before they could separate from the building, Grayson took Jayce's arm. "Walk with me Jayce. Before I was moved, Caitlyn told me you'd need to know some things about our captor."

"The Red Eye?" the inventor asked, as they made their way out of the building, and on to the street. "What could I possibly need to know? I'm not fighting him."

"Caitlyn said to tell you that the man still has that lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead."

While Jayce and the enforcer spoke, neither paid any mind to how Hermione's head inched just slightly closer at those words.

"She told me to say he isn't as nice as when he was a child, but that there isn't any doubt."

"You're lying." The younger man breathed, defiance and hope warring in his eyes and his voice. He knew exactly what the woman was implying. "My brother is dead."

"Caitlyn says he isn't. And she's spent enough time talking to the Red Eye that I'm pretty convinced of it too."

"If my brother was alive he would have come home."

"He seems to have amnesia." She countered.

"How is this possible? And why haven't you informed the council of this yet?"

"As to how it's possible, I couldn't say. But the council is about to finally make a true peace with Zaun. Why would I say anything to disrupt that now?"

"You said Caitlyn was sure?"

"She was absolutely certain."

Jayce cleared his throat to give him a moment to think. He wanted to believe so much that his brother could still be alive, but could he trust Caitlyn's determination? Would she want him to know if there was even a hint of doubt? The answer came to him immediately.

"What can you tell me about the Red Eye? I mean, my little brother."

Through all of this, Viktor was gaping, and Hermione had a strange gleam in her eyes.

Grayson however, was only focused on the man in front of her. "As his name suggests, one of his eyes is blood red, he only has one arm now, and he has a penchant for wearing top hats and carrying walking canes."

"Well the top hat and cane thing makes sense. What else?"

"Near as I can tell, he's very honorable, charismatic, engaged, oh and he's also a mage."

"A mage!"

"A mage!"

"A mage!"

Jayce stared hard at his two companions, who dutifully looked down and backed away. "Perhaps we should discuss this more in depth, elsewhere." He said to the sheriff, who nodded her agreement instantly.

The two took off, leaving Hermione and Viktor behind. He made a hasty excuse and took off, leaving Hermione alone with her thoughts. And what thoughts they were. She was almost certain that she'd discovered the identity of the boy who lived.