Chapter 7

Moments

Ezreal

Piltover, 5 Years Ago

4 in the morning. The sun still wasn't up yet. Good. It would be easier for me to leave undetected. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror one last time. My outfit wasn't exactly ideal for my destination, but it would have to do for now. As soon as I would return, things would go back to normal. Normal. How I longed for things to go back to how they used to be. It had been 4 years now, since they've been pronounced dead. 5 since the last time I saw them. It was hard to believe that I was 15 by now. What if they didn't recognize me?

I shook my head. No time to dwell now. I had to get going if I didn't want anyone to notice I was gone in time to stop me. I grabbed my backpack and was about to slip out my window when I realized I almost forgot my mother's journal which was still lying on my desk. I have read the worn down pages hundreds of times, at first desperate to have something I could cling to that belonged to my mother, but time after time I realized that this could lead me to where they are. The tomb of Ne'Zuk. That was my first clue and the first place I would have to investigate if I ever hoped to find my parents.

Careful not to damage it, I fetched the bundle of paper and leather and let it slip into my backpack. Time to go.

The streets were empty at this time of day, most shops were closed and the one's that weren't were only just opening up now. There was still some specific clothing I had to get and thanks to my mother's notes I knew exactly where to look.

Sapphilite Row was located near the docks so I wouldn't have any problems getting down there in time. The shop I was looking for also wasn't that hard to find. The only worry that crept into my head was that it might not yet be open. Should I have come by yesterday? No, I couldn't have risked any sign to my uncle that I was about to embark on this journey. He would have never let me go.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw light coming out of the windows. Zalies Expeditionary Outfitters and Haberdashery it said on the sign. That was what I was looking for. I pushed the door open and a small bell rang to announce my presence. The shop was empty but I could hear faint shuffling from the backroom.

I had a good look around the place. It was insane how much expeditionary gear there was for all sorts of specific situations. Need to do some mountain climbing in the harsh Freljord climate? There was the stuff you needed. Want to survive the humidity and mosquito bites of the insect-infested Kumungu Jungle? This place has got you covered. It was almost impossible to concentrate on finding what I needed.

"Can I help you, kid?" The sudden question from behind me almost gave me a heart attack. I spun around to spot a woman who had to be somewhere in her late twenties, looking uninterested. Her skin was tanned and her thick black hair was tied up into a messy knot. She was tall. Taller than me, actually which made her look a little intimidating.

"I uh... I'm looking for something." I managed to stutter. My social skills were abysmal at this time, a result of being homeschooled for 6 years.

"I figured. Everyone who comes to a shop is usually looking for something."

Was she making fun of me?

"Well, I need some sand protection. Uhm, you know, for sandstorms and stuff like that." I said, unsure what exactly that was supposed to look like. The woman tilted her head to the side and raised one eyebrow. I think she was displaying confusion, but she still looked bored out of her mind.

"Aren't you a bit young to be going down to Shurima, lad?"

"How do you know where...?"

"If you're looking for sand protection, you're probably going to Shurima. It's not that hard to guess" She turned and searched through a shelf. "Which city you tryna see, huh?" She wanted to know.

"Nerimazeth. Sort of." I answered truthfully as the woman was still trying to find my items.

"Nerimazeth? Do you even have any experience? You seem like a bit of a rookie if you'd excuse my honesty. No offense, but Nerimazeth is tough territory for a kid to wander around on their own. You know about the Xer'Sai, right?" She seemed to have finally found the items. "I hope you can pay for that. My gear doesn't come cheap."

I did, in fact, take offense to that. "I do have experience! Just not out in the field is all."

The woman didn't seem bored anymore. Rather amused.

As she put my items on the counter she said: "Not out in the field huh? Great, now I feel kinda bad selling you this stuff."

I was confused. "Why would you feel bad?"

"You're a bit young to die. I don't want to contribute to that"

Honestly? I had prepared for this journey for months now, read every book and every parchment about getting from Nashrame to Nerimazeth and its surroundings. I probably knew more about it than any archeology major at the university. I wasn't gonna die, especially not before I found my parents!

"What's your business there anyway?" She asked.

"What do you care?" I snapped.

She just shrugged. "Look kid, I dunno if you got any family or if you're one of the foundlings out on the streets, but if anyone comes in here asking for a blond kid in a tacky outfit, at least I can point them in the right direction, alright?"

"What's wrong with my outfit?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not that it matters, but neither is that clothing gonna help you in the middle of the desert, nor does it look appealing in any way."

I sighted. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate honesty, but she could have at least been nicer about it. "I'm looking for two missing people." I answered, truthfully, tossing my money onto the counter.

She looked interested now. "Missing people? That's gonna be some tough luck, kid, people who get lost in the desert usually don't get found. Are they someone close?"

"Well, they're my parents actually."

Something shifted in her expression. She seemed to connect the dots. "Wait. You're Ella's boy, aren't you?"

I stiffened a little at that. I hadn't heard someone say her name in ages. "You knew her?" I said, trying to hide my uncertainty at the situation.

"Are you kidding? Of course I knew her! She helped me set this whole place up. Damn, she helped me out so many times, I lost count. Always lent me money in tough times which she wouldn't even want back."

I had to smile a little at that. "Yeah, that sounds like mom."

"You actually look so much like her. It's crazy I didn't realize sooner." The woman seemed to dwell on the memories of her for a few seconds before she snapped out of it and shot me an almost affectionate glance.

"My, you've grown since the last time I saw you. You must have been, what, 5?" she asked.

I couldn't answer the question since I don't remember ever having seen this woman in my life, so I just shrugged.

"I'd tell you not to go and that you probably won't find them but if you're anything like her, you're not gonna listen anyway, are you?" She asked. She was right. I just nodded at that and I was glad she accepted it instead of trying to talk me out of it.

She turned and reached for something behind the counter. "Yeah... hey, look El was a dear friend of mine... I never got to properly thank her for everything so..." she put something else on the counter, together with the items I already bought. A brown leather jacket with blue-ish fur on the rims of the hood and a few pockets to keep smaller items safe. "... helping her son with his questionable wardrobe choices is probably the least I can do. It's on the house. Just don't lose it."

I eyed her with confusion. Was she for real?

"Just do me a favor will you?"

"What?"

"Don't die, okay?"

I nodded, still a little bit taken aback by her sudden shift in demeanor towards me. "I'll try. Thanks." I took the gear and stowed it under my arm.

"And feel free to drop in anytime. Just don't think you'll get any more free stuff."

I laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Oh, the name's Zalie by the way."

"Figures." I motioned to the sign outside the shop. "I uh..." I tried to stretch my hand out to her without dropping all my stuff "I'm Ezreal."

Zalie laughed at how ridiculous I must have looked right now, trying not to drop everything. "I know" she said and instead of shaking my hand, she grinned and ruffled through my hair like my father used to. I felt a bit stupid, seeing as I was 15 and not 8 anymore. Zalie gave me a wink as I shot her an awkward smile. "See you around, kid."

I didn't know why I was still doing this. Was getting up at 5 in the morning really worth my stuff? I sighted and climbed out of bed. Well, at least I had my own room. It was small and cramped and only had a tiny window, but I didn't have to share it with 10 other people like the rest of the staff. The perks of being Luxanna Crownguard's personal guard, I suppose.

I slipped into my shoes and didn't even bother changing out of my sleeping attire (which consisted of a tank top and my underwear). At this hour, none of the Crownguard family members, were awake anyway, and the one person who was had lost all respect for me within the first five minutes of meeting me, so I really didn't give two shits about putting on proper clothes before 7.

After stopping at the bathroom, I made my way to the garden, shuffling around lazily. God, I really miss sleep, I thought.

I found Luxanna where I expected her to be. Watering the flowers in the garden. I didn't get why she'd insist on doing a task this tedious when there was an entire team of people getting paid for doing it. But who was I to judge. I raided tombs for a living. Which sounded much worse on paper than it actually was, but that's not my point.

"Morning" I yawned as I stepped into the garden. Luxanna didn't answer me, she had made it pretty clear that she wasn't really fond of me. Which obviously had nothing to do with my personality whatsoever. Pfft. Why would people even think that.

"I see you still like to pretend you have already retired even though you haven't even got a real job yet." I said. Okay, maybe it had a little bit to do with my personality. I just couldn't help myself. I had a tendency to just say whatever popped into my head out loud.

"Aaaand you're still ignoring me." I observed.

Without looking up from the flowers she asked: "Have you ever wondered why that might be?"

Well, at least she was talking to me outside of the occasional game of Tellstones.

"That's a trick question, right?" I grinned.

She shook her head in disbelief. It's not that I didn't notice that I was constantly pushing her limits of tolerance. I just actively chose to ignore the fact that I did. Nothing wrong with that.

"Why do I have to be stuck in here with you." She exclaimed. I was used to those kinds of statements by now, and frankly, I probably deserved them being thrown at me.

"In here's not so bad though." I stated, trying to not be obnoxious for once. "I mean, people cook for you, clean for you and all that shit. They'd probably give you a massage if you asked them. Maybe I should ask them for a massage..." my sentence trailed off but Lux didn't take the bait to be a little more positive about her situation.

"A golden cage is still a cage." Lux said and I kind of understood where she was coming from. If someone would put me under constant surveillance and forbid me to set a foot outside my own home, I'd probably go crazy, too. Especially since my rent didn't pay itself and I kind of had to go outside to do my job, but that's an entirely different story.

I considered a thought in my head for a few seconds, then reached out for Lux's shoulder. She turned around abruptly, surprised at the fact that I even dared to step into her comfort zone. I was probably going to regret this.

"Come on then." I said, taking the watering can from her hands and placing it on the ground. "Let's go."

I motioned for her to follow but she just stood there, dumbstruck by my every intrusion of her personal space. "Go where?" She wanted to know.

"You wanted to go out, so that's what we're gonna do." I said, matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious.

"Are you crazy? My aunt–..."

I cut her off mid-sentence. "What your aunt doesn't know won't bother her. Besides, even if she finds out, you're with me, so it's gonna be fine. Your aunt adores me."

"Only because you're somewhat famous." Lux furrowed her brows.

"Psh, whatever. Come on, we don't have all day." I hurried her.

"I will get my cloak." Lux said hesitantly.

"I'll go get it, meet you at the gate in five." I said and hurried inside to get dressed after all.

As discussed, Lux was waiting at the massive gate of Crownguard Manor, nervously looking around. I passed her the cloak and she swung it over as elegantly as you would expect.

"Just a heads up, is anyone gonna try and murder you outside?" I asked, half-jokingly, but also a little concerned.

She just gave me a look that told me to shut up.

"You still haven't told me where we're going." Her soft whisper was pleasant for a change, no sign of her dislike for me, no anger or annoyance at my remarks. Mainly because there weren't any.

"It's a surprise. Let's go."

She didn't insist on me walking five feet behind her as she usually did. Well, she didn't really know the way, so it wasn't an option anyway, but it felt nice walking next to her for a change. To the outside world, we could have looked like friends, or, with our matching hair colors maybe even siblings if it weren't for the fact that she was dressed way less casual than me.

We made our way to the edge of High Silvermere where we would pass several pine trees until there were no more houses. Lux was visibly confused as to where our destination might lead us but stayed silent. I appreciated her trust, even though it seemed a little naïve to me. The fact that she didn't even know my real name just showed how dangerous it could be to blindly trust someone just because they were your personal guard.

We had to climb up the nearby hill, which wasn't too steep but still had us pant when we reached the top. I told Lux to keep the volume down and silently follow me. She was even more confused now.

"Where in the world are w–..." she demanded to know but I cut her off.

"Shh. You have to be quiet or you'll startle them. Look!" I said and pointed at what I wanted to show her.

At first she looked like she might scold me for wasting her time, but then she spotted them.

"Are those... Silverwing Raptors?"

"They just hatched a few days ago. We should keep an eye out for the mother though, Silverwings can be pretty aggressive if their offspring are threatened."

Lux looked awestruck and I had to admit, it was kind of cute. "I've never seen one in reality. Only in books." She admitted, fully invested in observing the nest. "How did you know they were here?"

"At this time of year, their nests are everywhere. There's a bunch of them up here, it's quite a popular spot." I said. "You have to be careful not to step on any eggs though." I warned her.

"They're adorable." Lux muttered and I had to smile at that. They really were. "When will they learn how to fly?"

I shrugged at that. "I don't know. Probably within the next few weeks. They usually leave the nest about 4 months after they hatch and start their own family."

Lux's smile turned a little sad. "Wow. They leave home so quickly." She said and I had a feeling that it wasn't really about the birds at all.

We had to leave when the mother had returned to feed the small ones. We didn't want to risk disturbing the nest so we decided to make our way back to the Manor.

"I didn't expect you to be so invested with animals." Said Lux, having completely forgotten that she hated me.

"What? I'm not. Not really." I tried to make clear.

"I don't believe that. You knew your way around that nest so well! You must have pets! I was never allowed a pet. Do you have pets?" She exclaimed excitedly, getting a little ahead of herself. I liked her sunshiny attitude when she was excited. It suited her much better.

I thought about her question for a few seconds. "I used to have a cat, but he hated me. Here." I held out my arm to show her the scratch marks. "Bobo used to scratch me all the time."

The scratches were the least of Lux's concern. "Your cat's name was Bobo?" She asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked, a bit confused at the fact that that's what she took away from the conversation.

"Nothing, it's just... it's a funny name for a cat, okay?" She laughed.

"I suppose it is." I answered, smiling a little.

"What happened to Bobo?" She wanted to know after a few moments of silence.

"I don't know, to be honest. He ran away and I never saw him again. It turned out I was allergic so it wasn't that much of a problem for me anyway."

What I didn't tell her was how thinking about this was a reminder of my uncles terrible parenting skills. I didn't even know why he thought it was a good idea for me to have a cat in the first place. I wasn't even home most of the time. When I moved into my own apartment, he said he didn't want me to be so alone all the time so he got me a freaking cat, but really, if he didn't want me to be alone then he shouldn't have been so absent during my entire childhood in the first place. Sure, he took me in, gave me food and a roof above my head and paid for my education, but honestly, that's the bare minimum for fucks sake. And instead of saying sorry for not being there for me as a kid when he was the only relative in my life I had left, he got a me a fucking cat.

Thinking about this always left me at a loss for words at how terrible my uncle was at raising me. All I can say is props to Zalie for looking after my cat. She was the real MVP. Even though she still charged me for her stuff, she was one of the best friends I had since I was fifteen. Heck, she might be almost twice my age, but she felt more like family than my uncle ever did. At least, she was there for me when no one else was.

"Are you okay?" Lux looked at me and I think I detected a hint of worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I lied and felt pleasantly surprised at the fact that she cared.

"You looked a little sad there for a moment. Do you miss Bobo?"

I had to laugh a little. How could I tell her that this wasn't about Bobo at all?

"Yeah" I answered, "I suppose I miss him a little bit."

Putting my notes at the end this time to break my habits.
So yeah, I really really REALLY wanted Zalie to be in the story and to be the cool big-sis character type that everyone needs in their life. So that's kinda what she became.

I also just learned about the horizontal lines! AHhhhhh!
Please let me know what you think and I'll be back sooner or later with the next chapter.
Shoutout to Bobo the cat, may he have found love and piece wherever he went...