Unstable Matters Chapter 15: Chains of Command (Part 1)
I'm only writing this because he asked me to. I don't even know if he'll ever read it, but I owe him the truth at least.
Zaunite Amorphous Combatant.
Zac is by far the strangest creature I have encountered in my time with the Institute of War. That being measured against from demigods, void-born monsters, and whatever the hell the Vastayans are.
At first wash, Zac is a dumb kid in the body of a monster. In spite of what I've been told about his past, he's too honest and too innocent to be involved in everything happening here.
For all his talk about standing up and being accounted for when it matters, I never noticed him because of his introvertedness in the Institute. I had to use every minute in that three months with him, and with Kolminye's support, I've forced him out of his slimy green shell. But was I able to make him realize his own potential? He may be shaped like a man, but inside he's still a boy. At least he has the cocksureness and overconfidence needed to take his own steps forward. From that I feel as if I can trust him as an ally, but do I dare say, friend? Do I even want that from him?
Being a commander of one of Noxus' premier units introduced me to a world of people. The stupid, ignorant, narcissistic, and plain idiotic were surprisingly few and far between. I had heard the stories; other officers resorting to tactics beneath true Noxians to save face for their careers. Child soldiers. Chemical weapons. The wholesale slaughter of people as intimidation tactics. Maybe I should have known that trying to stick to my own credence would only get my subordinates killed. War is said to be the great equalizer, and I was too arrogant to realize that even the strongest soldier could meet their end at the hands of the debauched tactics of the scum we threw our leftovers at.
Just looking at him though; there's something about him that makes me bitter. Every time I stop to look at him when I know he won't notice, I can feel my gut turn. He can sense my ire, my discomfort, my loathing, but he's never brought it up yet. I'm glad he hasn't because I don't know how I can explain that it's natural for me to hate him. A monster created to replace my kind on the battlefields. A killer puddle of ooze that would strip war of what little glory exists, and turn it into a game of numbers for profit. Something to be bred in large vats, and would turn the stories of the honored dead into nothing but a memory.
Kolminye knew how I felt. There are no coincidences with that woman. She knew that I would be honor bound to go on this journey. She knew that I would want to train Zac so I could rely on him. She knew that I would hold together the expedition if Katarina couldn't. Like always, no matter what it was, she just knew.
And yet, looking back, did she know what she stood to lose if everyone went as planned?
-Riven, former Commander of Fury Company, still in exile, Champion in the League of Legends.
"—and that's what happened."
"The council needs time to deliberate your statements." The flicking lights of the holographic human dulled slightly, before disappearing entirely. "Thank you for your time, Exile."
Riven said nothing in return to her interrogators, only staring at the one that had bothered to come in person. With papers in hand, Vessaria Kolminye wrote something unseen down, taking her time before addressing the Exile's silent concern.
"...What else is on your mind?"
"It's the fox," Riven said, deciding to speak straightly about the matter. "She's up to something. I don't know what yet, but we can't trust her."
"You think she's working for the Duchess?" Kolminye asked, taking a shot in the dark.
"No. That's what worries me," Riven confessed. "I think she's working for someone else, but I don't know who. It's clear she doesn't respect LeBlanc at all, so I don't know who else there is."
"Could she be aiming for her own gain?"
"That's what I thought at first, but now I'm not so sure." Riven felt herself frowning deeply, and did not hide it from the High Counselor. "She may be clever when it comes fucking rice farmers, but the real world is more complicated than that."
Kolminye showed no reaction to her words before she asked her next question. "Have you spoken to the Secret Weapon about this?"
When the Exile under question let out a low groan, the High Counselor knew the answer.
"Exile, the point of your training with him was so the two of you could rely on each other. If you can't speak to him about something like this—"
"It's not that," Riven interrupted before the words being spoken could go any further down the path she loathed. "He knows, but since she's focused on him he wants to handle it his own way."
Even from under a robe that hid all of her facial features, Riven could imagine Kolminye wearing questioning face. "Which means…?"
"She's dangerous, but he doesn't seem to care. This is what I was afraid of; he's too strong now, and his stupid attitude isn't going to save him from things that can't be answered with punches."
"Then you'll have to take command and lead him in the right direction. We didn't decide to include you on this mission so that you could get a free tour of Runeterra." That response was unexpectedly straightforward from Kolminye, and the High Counselor took Riven's silence as permission to continue. "I'll do some investigating on my end, so don't do anything rash. You're already causing a stir in the city, and you've only been there for a day. Everyone knows about the famous Noxian Exile. The commander of Fury Company. There are rumors that you started the fight because you and the Sinister Blade both hate Zaunites."
"My job has always been to swing my sword at things others tell me to. Yours is to keep the lid on bullshit like that." Riven scoffed out loud, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't want to see a single newspaper with some garbage headline tomorrow saying that we're the first wave of Noxus' invasion of Zaun. Okay?"
"I'll see what I can do. But what about your other partner in crime?"
"...Who?"
"Windforce." Kolminye continued to take notes, which Riven was starting to suspect were now about her. "Did she time her arrival with yours?"
"Janna? Do you think she's that smart?" Thinking back to the events earlier in a day, the Exile realized that much of it was a blur. One thing had to lead to the next, in unexpected and unpredictable ways. "Viktor's goons attacked us out of the blue. If you think she knew that there would be a fight, that's a little too coincidental for me."
"What about the boy that's with her?"
"What about him?"
"You didn't notice?" More notes, which made Riven frown even deeper. "The device on his back is radiating chrono-radiation from a Bracken heart fragment. He clearly isn't a regular child."
"True hextech?" Riven didn't bother to hide her admonishment. "No, I didn't notice."
"I think we'll set up a test to see what he's really capable of." More notes, at a faster pace than before. "Fate works in mysterious ways. I've heard from Windforce that the boy is a childhood friend of hers from before she moved to Piltover. Reuniting with him after all this time can't be a coincidence."
"You sound like you're saying it's the work of a higher power." Though she had never cared before, the fact that Kolminye was keeping her face hidden was beginning to grate on her. "In case you forgot, you and two others are supposed to be the higher power in the world."
"Even if I am on the Council of Equity, I've never claimed to possess powers of divinity. If anything, I like to think that someone of my low birth rising to become a leader of the Institute demonstrates mankind's potential for reform."
"I don't know anything about that." Heading for the door, Riven self consciously lowered the hood of her own outfit down. "If you need me for your test, I'll be around. But I'd prefer to get some rest after the fight."
"I shouldn't need you for a little bit, but you've got more to do before you can go sleep."
Riven didn't turn back to look at Kolminye. "And what does that mean?"
"You'll find out half a minute after leaving this room."
With a burst of light, Kolminye disappeared from existence. A teleportation spell without any channeling Riven surmised as she escorted herself out of the interrogation room alone. With every step, her body ached with sharp pains and dragging mass. The pressure and stress from battles on the Rift could be relieved with magic, which was a luxury she had indulged in only so that she would never be caught off guard for the unknowns that had come after. Fighting on the streets of Zaun against Viktor's flock had been as stimulating as any Rift battle, but without the refreshing relief after.
Have I been spoiling myself? Exiting from the room through the door, the weight of her broken blade strapped to her back felt heavy. Just as heavy as when it had once been whole. It felt as if something had changed, but she couldn't put her mind on it.
How can I be this tired from a fight with a bunch of street punks? Something's not right—
"Snowflake! Get over here!"
The moment she heard Katarina's voice, she regretted lowering her hood. "What is it?"
"The Captain of the Garuda. He wants to speak to you for some reason."
Even in a city-state considered an urban wasteland of pollution and mad science, the Institute had spared no expense in its embassy that acted as the heart and mind of all League related affairs in Zaun. Shaped like a series of glass flasks and connected test tubes, the Institute of War's embassy in Zaun was a metaphorical and literal testament to the strengths of the city-state it resided in. From some of its highest floors, the entire city could be seen below. Through temporary breaks in the smog and pollution, one could watch the population of Zaun go about their business, perhaps oblivious to how matters affecting the whole world were being decided in their corner of Runeterra. The private lobby everyone had been sent to was the tenth floor of a spiraling steel and glass tower that stretched into the sky higher than Riven had thought buildings made by humans could. The height even dwarfed the peak of the mountain stronghold of the Noxian High Command, and she had been relieved to find out that she had not developed a fear of heights after all of her time wandering the land.
Looking to where Katarina was pointing, one of the techmaturgy communications booths in the private lobby had its communicator hanging ajar from its side. The timing was too coincidental, but she didn't voice that thought when she walked past Katarina to enter the booth to face the unknown.
Glancing over at the only other two Champions present in the private lobby, Zac and Ahri were conversing about something she couldn't hear. The nine-tailed fox was nose deep in a periodical of some sort, with her feet up in Zac's hands being messaged as if she were in some sort of beauty parlor. She weighed the option of telling the Secret Weapon to stop but realized how ridiculous it would sound to declare Ahri's unnaturally perfect pedicured feet as some sort of imminent danger. Sweeping the lobby again, there were no signs of Janna or the mysterious boy Kolminye had mentioned. Wherever they were, if what the High Counselor had said was true, half of the embassy staff were probably stalking the boy to learn everything they could about him without asking a single question.
"Do you know who I am?"
The moment when she had raised the communicator up to her ear, a question was asked in a tone that was not demanding respect or recognition. Even so, Riven did not answer the question immediately. Turning around and looking at the closed door of the communications booth, she knew that it wasn't meant to keep secrets away from those that were interested in them the most. But, even so, she didn't worry about the players around her getting a better understanding of the cards in her hands.
"Captain Kinsey. You're a veteran captain of the first fleet, and your career has largely been centered around dealing with pirates in the Guardian's Sea. You were picked by Swain because of your extensive knowledge of Bilgewater's biggest pirate groups, and how to…negotiate...with them."
"I see you've done your research. Then you know why the Grand General has chosen me to captain this ship." The man's voice did not show any signs of being impressed. "I want to let you know that I've done some of my own. I know what they call you; the Exile. I know you've ignored the offers presented to you by the Grand General, and on top of that, your records in League sanctioned matches show you bare grudge against our home. So I want to know: why hasn't the famous Commander of Fury Company come back to where she belongs?"
"That's none of your business." Not willing to be on the defensive, Riven decided to cut to the chase. "Is there a reason why you're asking me this?"
"Of course there is. When you arrive, I would like you to head to my quarters so we can speak privately. I've been burdened with an awkward responsibility by the High Command, and I'd like to address it as soon as possible so we can disembark without any further holdups."
Awkward? She decided to try and push her luck. "What do you mean?"
"You'll find out when you arrive. I'll greet you personally, as any captain of a ship should."
Perhaps sensing the looming animosity through the techmaturgy receiver, Captain Kinsey continued.
"I want to make it clear; I didn't bring this up so you would brood over the past. The master of a house should take care of his guests, and because of our uncertain future, it's only prudent of me to get to know my guests as best I can."
Years away from the structure of the Noxian military, she still knew what was being alluded to. "Speaking for the others with me, there won't be any problems."
"Have they been put under your command?"
"Something like that." Trying to see out through the frosted glass panes boxing her in, Katarina was nowhere to be seen, but she could still see Ahri and Zac were still conversing together. "We have a mutual agreement to respect each other's talents."
"That will have to do then. I'm glad we're able to have this conversation. I'm sure you know that when something is useful, it's very hard for the owner to simply throw it away."
"I have very high standards, Captain."
"So does our Grand General, and I'm sure we will both be able to match them." Captain Kinsey paused, and she could hear him shifting in his thick naval petticoat from one side of his seat to the other. "Thank you for humoring me. I'm glad to know that we will be getting along hereon as comrades."
"...Comrades?" Riven questioned. It was not a word spoken lightly, and what she heard next shocked her to her core.
"Yes. It was the Grand General's choice of words. It is only natural that as comrades we will cooperate in both of our shared interests." His assurance did not make her feel any better. "And speaking of which, I would like to thank you personally on behalf of our crew for what you sent us. Unfortunately, we haven't been supplied with anything worthwhile to offer you in return…"
"That can be arranged," Riven said, swallowing a lump in her throat.
"I'm sure they'll be glad to hear it. I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay with us when you arrive."
Sitting pretty as she always made sure to, Ahri continued to listen in on the not-so private affairs being discussed only a few feet away from her. "Noxian conversations are so...interesting…" the nine-tailed fox said in a low whisper, not caring how wide her lips were curving into an almost perverse smile.
"Huh? What's interesting?" Zac asked, before stuffing another sandwich from a nearby food platter into his open maw.
"You'll find out soon enough." Rolling over onto her side, Ahri picked up her knee socks from where they lay and began redressing herself. "But that aside, why are you so popular?"
"I'm popular?"
"Right here!" she held up the magazine she had been reading, having flipped it around so he could see the page she was on. "You're on the top three most popular junglers for Summoners!"
"I don't know about that." Zac ate another sandwich whole, reaching for another as he did.
"It says it right here." Ahri pointed to it with a long, sharp, perfectly painted fingernail. "Zac is a champion with a decent skill floor, high ceiling, and is a very solid pick into anything. Anything!"
"I don't know about that," Zac said again, fishing around blindly for more food while he skimmed the contents of the article being shown to him.
"And look at me!" she turned the page, opening a spread about mages and other midlaners. "They said I'm only good up to diamond! Corki and Lucian are better than me! They're not even supposed to be in my lane!"
"Yeah, I agree with that." Zac nodded, rubbing his chin to appear like he was giving it some thought.
"You do!?"
"Yeah, you're only good up to diamond," he flashed her a cheeky grin before the magazine in her hands was smashed into his face. Waiting a bit before he slowly peeled it off so it would not rip, what he saw on the next page made him pause for a moment.
"Who's this?" Zac asked, turning it around and showing Ahri the printed portrait of a young woman. "I've never seen her before."
"Huh? Her?" Ahri looked at what he was talking about. She then read the printed text out loud. "Taliyah, the Stoneweaver? What does that mean?"
But before he could say anything back, Zac heard a nearby door open followed by a familiar voice.
"Ahri? Ahri the Nine-Tailed Fox?" someone unseen behind the door said. "We're ready to see you now."
"Coming!" Ahri said, springing up onto her feet and slipping her shoes back on as she did. "Zac," she turned to face him with a wide smile on her face, "be a dear and wait here for me. Okay, Oppa?"
"Oppa? Again with that?" Zac mouthed, watching her go with a strange amount of energy she hadn't shown earlier. "...Weird."
Watching nine white tails leave behind a door that shut itself as quickly as it had been opened, without warning the Secret Weapon let out a loud burp that reverberated like an explosive blast in the lobby. For a second Zac swore heard the glass ceiling shake from the force of his bodily expulsion, but he knew it was just his imagination.
"That was disgusting. Remember your manners."
"Sorry," Zac half-heartedly apologized, still looking up at the sky through the glass ceiling when Riven walked over to him.
"No, you're not." Looking around, the Exile noticed that they were now alone. "Where did the other two go?"
"Akali took Ahri to be examined, and Katarina left somewhere before you were done talking."
"Akali?" From her experiences in the League, Riven knew more about the Fist of the Shadow than most Summoners did. She glanced around the room, no longer entirely sure that they were alone. "What is she doing here?"
"She's a nurse, isn't she?" Zac asked. "I could tell it was her from her voice. Even without the mask on, she doesn't sound that different."
"A nurse?" Riven questioned, thinking about it. "I thought that was just a stupid costume…"
"I guess the world is full of surprises," Zac said before both of them turned from a familiar ding chiming in the room.
Above the elevators that were the only way up and into the Champions-only suite, the lights displaying where the elevator car was were being lit up in ascending order. Silently waiting in unison, both Zac and Riven felt a small eternity pass with only the sound of the techmaturgical elevator engines working their damnedest echoing in the room. With a loud mechanical clunk, the elevator stopped, and the gilded doors slid open to reveal their contents to the world.
"Hey, what did I tell you? I knew that burp had to be him."
"Lucky guess, guy. That could have been anyone."
Stepping out from the open elevator doors, the two Champions inside walked out still engrossed in their conversation.
"Anyone? Do you know anything with lungs who could do that?" Yasuo asked Jax as the elevator doors closed behind them both.
"I bet Gragas or Tryndamere could do it. On a good day," Jax retorted, before stopping and looking around at the lobby they were now standing in. "Hot damn. Look at this place. Change the colors around a little, and this could have been part of the Shuriman palace." From behind his mask, the Grandmaster at Arms whistled in awe. "Can we have this as our new meeting hall? That room in the Institute is too dark."
"Not being very subtle Grandmaster," Yasuo reached into the inner pocket of his clothes, pulling out a small metal flask after a moment. "You should be more careful. You never know who's listening. There could be spies around every corner."
"Naaah, we're in good company." Jax shambled over to a nearby chair, pointing his lantern at Zac and Riven as he did. "These two know how to keep a secret, and that's coming from me."
"What are you two doing here?" Riven asked with narrowed eyes, and loud enough make it clear that she was not happy over their sudden arrival.
"It wasn't my idea." Yasuo put his hands up in surrender, flask included. "I just wanted to stop in and make sure everything was going as planned."
"And I wanted to see how my number one pupil was doing," Jax said when Riven and Zac turned to him for an explanation. Slumping down into the seat that was larger than him, the burning lantern that was always in his grasp was set aside to lean against a nearby window. "You can't blame an old man for that. I heard he got in a big fight too, so I wanted to congratulate him on his win." Turning to look at Zac, the Secret Weapon could imagine a loopy grin on the Grandmaster's face despite not knowing anything about what was behind the mask. "But I bet all of those acolytes of Viktor didn't stand a chance against you, right? I wouldn't expect anything less from the world's first grandmaster at living arms."
"He's not your pupil," Riven said before Zac could say anything. There was an audible irritation in her tone that he hadn't expected to hear. "You've got some nerve since you barely taught him anything!"
"That's my line, Exile," Jax retorted, with a sudden change in attitude. From behind the lit holes in his expressionless mask, it seemed for a moment that the inebriated attitude of the Grandmaster at Arms had disappeared. "You may be responsible for him, but he's not one of your toy soldiers. He's got a hundred times more natural talent than you. Someone like you that can't let go of the past is just—"
"Alright, alright. I'm sure that's the alcohol talking," Zac said as he put an arm out in front of Riven to stop her from doing anything unnecessary. When he looked at Yasuo, the wandering ronin was taking an exceptionally long drink from his own flask as an excuse not to get involved. "Guys, what are you really here for?"
"I'm here because I was promised good beer if I led him to you," Yasuo confessed unapologetically. "I'm starting to get the feeling that there is no beer in my future."
"Quit your bellyaching. When Gragas put his newest line of Graggy Ice on tap, I said you'll get the first taste! Now, I'm here because I want a rematch," Jax said, before reaching out and grabbing ahold of his lantern again. "There's going to be an Ascension match soon, with no limiters for the Summoners to evaluate some new Champions in the League. I want a rematch between us, without the magical limiters they normally put on us on the Fields of Justice."
"What? Is that what this is about?" Zac almost laughed, when he looked and saw Riven roll her eyes and turn to sit down herself. "Don't tell me you're still sore about how I won last time."
"That wasn't a win! Throwing me into the Summoner's Rift Fountain so I get zapped by those stupid lasers doesn't count!" Jax shouted, pointing the lantern at Zac and waving it shakily. Sparks and cinders fluttered about from the dancing flames as if the fire inside were alive and reflecting the mood of its wielder.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever you say, old man." Zac laughed when Jax just continued to shake his signature weapon at him in an alcoholic fury. "And you laughed when you heard about what I did to Sejuani on the Howling Abyss."
"That's a completely different thing! This… This is a matter of honor!" Jax scoffed, before stopping and slumping back into his seat. "Besides, I admit, I wasn't completely sure of your strength when you left. But after hearing how you beat up Viktor's stooges? I want to see how far you've come in such a short amount of time."
"Alright, alright. You'll get your fight." The Secret Weapon then turned to Riven, who looked away from him when he did. "I've just got something to do first."
"It's about that kid with blondie, right?" Jax pointed to the black ponytail sticking out from the hole in his hood. "Baggy clothes, hourglass painted on his face, and one badass haircut."
"Yeah, his name is Ekko. I guess you've seen him already, huh."
"You don't think I would know?" the Grandmaster at Arms almost seemed insulted. "They wouldn't just let any friend of a Champion onto a Field of Justice. Even if it someone like Windforce who has a lot of pull with Summoners of all skill levels."
"There are only two reasons a kid like him would be here," Yasuo said, holding up one finger at a time. But before he could finish, Riven interrupted him.
"They either want to enroll him in their Summoner school, or it's because they want to make him a Champion." After saying so, Riven went back to looking away with a clouded, brooding look on her face. "It could be either. That thing on his back is some sort of hextech thing. If he's telling the truth, then he made it himself from a shard of the bracken heart Viktor fought Jayce over."
"Huh. Is that what that is? I wonder if Viktor knows that there's a little kid running around doing what he couldn't," Yasuo muttered, turning his flask upside down to see if it was empty.
"We heard that he fought Viktor's mechanical clown brigade with you. So we wanted to hear what you think about him." Jax stood up from his seat and turned to look outside at city of Zaun. "I've never known anything to come out of this city beside mad scientists and weird monsters. Even if he's a kid, it would be nice to have a smart guy from Zaun join the League before he goes crazy." He then looked over his shoulder briefly, before going back to the view. "Present company excluded."
"Really? I'm supposed to take that from a guy with only three fingers on two giant purple hands, jumps like a monkey with springs for legs, and is never seen without his six-eyed mask?" Zac said in jest, and everyone except Riven laughed after.
"Alright, alright. Point taken." Putting his lantern back down and letting it lean against his seat, the holes in the mask Jax always wore glowed with their usual unemotional blue shine. "There's no point in talking for men like us. We'll settle this on a Field of Justice like we always do."
"Sounds good. You're getting my hopes up for a good fight." Zac flexed his arm muscles, clenching his large green fingers into a fist tight enough that he rubbery sound when he did. "Same rules as last time?"
"Huh?" Jax answered after a moment had passed. "Yeah, sure. Let's go with that."
He turned his neck around to look at Riven for support, he looked and saw that the Exile had moved past them all and picked up a newspaper from the table she was sitting at.
"Jax?" the Secret Weapon asked after the moment had passed.
"Yeah?" the Grandmaster at Arms answered back, looking at him as he did.
"What's the real reason why you're here?"
"I told you, didn't I?" Letting out a deep groan, the Grandmaster at Arms sank a bit deeper into his chair. "I'm just checking up on you. Don't get it go to your head, though."
"Is that really it?"
Another pause. From his sunken position, Jax asked, "Do you remember what you told me about Karma and Irelia?"
"O-oh, that?" Zac subconsciously gave a nervous laugh, and he could feel Riven's eyes on his back without having to turn around to look. "Uh, yeah. What about it? We are talking about what I said, right?"
"You were worried about what Karma and Irelia might do if they were convinced by the Council of Elders to act against Zed and his gang."
"Right! That's… I remember that" Zac let out another uneasy laugh. "What about it?"
"Irelia is going to be on the opposing team. She probably wants to size you up, you know, since you avoided her and Karma before you left the Institute."
This time it was Zac's turn to groan, and he let his head roll around on his neck in a lazy circle. "I thought I had that covered. Someone was supposed to vouch for me."
"She's the type that won't be satisfied with answers unless she gets them herself," Jax explained. "That's just how she is. The way I figure, maybe we can fight each other for long enough that she won't have a chance to interrogate you. And who knows? Maybe we can put on a good show for the viewers too."
"You don't have a plan for the Ionians yet?" Riven asked, putting her newspaper down loudly.
"I haven't thought that far ahead." Scratching the back of his head did little to help Zac deal with the indirect admonishment. "It's hard. There are too many possibilities."
"We'll get a chance to talk about that when the time comes. For now, let's stick with the present." Deciding to speak up, Yasuo shifted the weight of his sword on his side as he began rummaging through the cabinets behind an empty counter for fluids. "The good news is that everyone seems to be taking the news well. You don't have to worry about any spies or something trying to sabotage you on your way to Ionia."
"What's the bad news?" Zac asked, knowing he did so just before Riven could.
"The bad news is that the Council of Elders is being too quiet." Picking up a brown tinted bottle with a long neck, the Unforgiven ronin scanned the label with a critical eye before putting it back. "Which means some of the members have to be planning something. The Council is already split on the direction Ionia should take now that it's a part of the Institute like everyone else in the world. If the doves and hawks are both being silent on a matter that could swing either way, then it means something ugly is in the works."
"How would you know this?" Riven asked, with a touch of skepticism. "I never got the impression that the Council of Elders could be so...political. Aren't they just a bunch of old men from the far corners of Ionia?"
"You know, Ionia isn't an island filled with sheltered, overgrown children who want to dance with nature and commune with the universe. We have just as many violent, pig-headed, and selfish idiots like everyone else." Picking up another bottle briefly, Yasuo put it back and continued to search for something to his liking. "And now that I'm fighting for the Institute, it means that I have a lot of time on my hands to start learning about what I would never have as a simple swordsman. You should try it too."
"...Whatever." Riven turned herself around in her seat, before abruptly getting up with her broken sword in tow. "I'm going to go find somewhere to work out. I don't want to waste my time like you two lazy alcoholics."
"Good idea. Maybe you can go find a better weapon in one of those junkyards while you're at it," Jax said to her backside.
The Exile did not bother to turn around or say anything back. Riven pressed the button on the wall to open the elevator doors and walked inside once they had opened. Watching her leave, Zac felt his own mouth open but was unable to think of anything to say. In a moment the elevator doors smoothly slide closed just like how they had opened, before taken Riven down a long descent to a place unknown.
"Why is she so wound up? More than usual." Yasuo asked, looking the doors Riven had disappeared behind only moments ago. It was said after a few seconds had passed, as if he wanted to be absolutely sure she would not hear him. "You didn't do something, did you?" he then asked Zac.
"What? Why would you think it was me?" Zac asked, realizing how defensive he sounded.
"Who else could it be? It's not she cares about anyone else here," Yasuo said back, and the Secret Weapon wondered how he could be so sure.
"Maybe it's that call she took." Zac looked over at the empty booth Riven had been standing in. Thinking back, he remembered the strange comment that had been made to him about what he had been in front of but completely missed out on. "Seemed like it was something important. At least that's what Ahri thought."
"Ahri!?" At the sound of the nine-tailed fox's name, the wandering ronin stopped what he was doing with a mixture of surprise and mild discomfort on his face. But the allure of good alcohol was much stronger, and he quickly returned to scavenging for a suitable prize. "That's right. I completely forgot about her. She hasn't tried to eat your soul or anything, has she?"
Zac had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "She doesn't do that."
"She doesn't do that to people she likes," Jax corrected, having pulled over a footstool to place his giant purple feet up on. "Guess you made the cut, huh kid? Must have been the charm and charisma you ooze all over the place."
"Maybe it is. What about it?" Zac snapped back, his voice rising with a building annoyance. "I don't care what others say about her. I chose her to come with us, and she's done everything we've needed her to do when asked."
"We're just telling you to be careful, that's all." Walking over and sitting down with several bottles in his arm, Yasuo kicked his feet up like Jax in another chair after removing his sword from his waist and setting it down. "I guess you've heard this before, huh."
"Riven won't stop saying it every time I bring her up." Zac made a mouth out of his fingers and began to open and close them mockingly. "It's always about how she's nothing but a nine-tailed parasite. She's in league with LeBlanc. She's in league with the Kinkou. She's in league with the Dark Sovereign. She's in league with the Council of Elders. Everything she does is a part of something evil, and it's going to be our doom."
"She's just jealous that she doesn't have a monopoly on your respect," Jax said, and in his corner of the room, Yasuo felt himself grimace from what he knew was coming. "Some people are like that, and Riven's no exception. Her military training just makes it worse."
"A monopoly on my respect?" Zac asked, dubious of the Grandmaster's words. "What does that even mean? Why would she even care about that?"
"Because she's afraid of you."
In the short time that the Secret Weapon had known the Grandmaster at Arms, Jax always spoke with the same firm conviction expected of someone who would charge into battle against all manner of magic and monsters with only a lamp post. Even when he was joking, it was said in a way that reflected the unrivaled experience of someone who had fought to live a life on the top of the world. Not only that, but he had done so with every compromise he had ever made being one of his own design granted to others. So it should have been no surprise to anyone that the only sound in the room for the next minute was Yasuo cracking open the neck of one of the bottles in his arms, and beginning to sample its contents hastily.
"She's what?" Zac asked, sounding dumbfounded.
"You heard me," Jax spoke in the tone of a man talking to a boy. "You're stronger than her now. She's terrified that if she can't keep your respect, then you'll leave her behind like the washed up soldier she is."
"Yeah, right." Whether out of shock or disbelief, Zac physically waved Jax off with his hand. "If I'm so much stronger than her, then why did Kolminye have me take her along and put her in Swain's crosshairs? She's shown how strong she is when we fought Viktor's followers."
"You don't get it. Riven was sent to guide you through the Noxian bullshit. She's not here to teach you how to fight anymore." Jax's tone had not changed from the before, but the conversation was taking a much more serious path. "You surpassed her in that regard the moment you stepped off the Field of Justice that night. No, you surpassed all of us that night. You just haven't realized it yet because there's nothing here to challenge you."
"You really expect me to believe that?" Zac found himself looking up at the glass ceiling, with the smog and pollution of Zaun clouding the crystal clear skies he was used to seeing at the Institute of War. "I know I'm strong, but I'm not that strong. You make it sound like I could beat anyone in one punch."
"No one knows what you're capable of except yourself." Jax looked at Zac straight in the eye from behind his mask. "She talks about how Ahri is just using you, right? Well, try saying that to her next time, and see how she reacts."
"Whatever," Zac muttered, unable to think of anything else to say and unaware of how closely he was mirroring a certain someone who had just left. He then looked over to the other Champion in the room, who was maybe refraining from saying anything despite his own experiences. "What about you? Are you thinking the same?"
"I'm not thinking much about anything," Yasuo said simply, working on the contents of the second bottle of many that had been in his arms. "But if I were you… I'd, uh… Huh. This is good stuff. When did I start this bottle?"
"What's the deal with him?" Zac asked Jax, starting to realize that the wandering ronin may have come just to drowning himself in alcohol from the very start.
"Who can say?" Jax shrugged under his bulky robes, standing up and making his way back to the elevator doors alone. "Maybe he's thinking about home. We all do it from time to time."
"So what? You're leaving now?" Zac pointed to the back of the Grandmaster at Arms accusingly. "First you tell me that you're proud of me, then you tell me everything I know is a lie, and now you're leaving?"
"I don't want you to become like me." This was said with Jax pressing the button to summon the elevator, without turning around. "An old man wandering the world fighting to forget his mistakes. Take it from me; when people are backed into a corner, they don't always think about what they'll do next if they survive. When my people were backed into a corner, they destroyed themselves trying to figure out how to save themselves. You have to make sure you plan everything out ahead of time. The world is too dangerous to improvise."
"That's a hell of a thing to say to me now," Zac said, still unable to find the words to convey everything swimming in his head at that moment.
"You were blessed coming into this world. Your parents may have said that to you, but you didn't understand it until recently." When the doors opened, Jax strolled in just as Riven had before while still talking. "Teachers never say enough to their students. You've gotta' trust that they'll fill in some blanks on their own."
"Home, huh." Zac looked outside at the peaking heights of Zaun just outside the window. A world that he had left behind to try and fulfill a greater purpose elsewhere, only to return to on his first steps toward becoming something. He continued to stare at the world away from the world, finding meaning in the words that had been passed down to him, until Yasuo spoke up and broke him out of his thoughts.
"What a load of crap. Who would believe any of that?" Yasuo said, covering his mouth before letting out a deep belch.
However, unseen by all Katarina slowly pulled the listening bug from her ear. Suspended from the side of the building by a series of intricate ropes, she made sure to crush it in the palm of her hand before beginning her hidden accent up to the roof where she had started her descent from.
The irony that her mission to get answers had raised countless questions was not lost on her.
"Take a seat over there and take your shoes off. I need to write some things down."
Unaware of everything that had transpired in her absence so very close to her, Ahri crossed her hands over her lap after kicking off her flats and looked around the private room she had been led to. She kicked her legs idly, sitting on the examination table prepared for her.
Not seeing anything of interest, her eyes instead wandered back to the athletic curves of the familiar nurse she had obediently followed. It was like a picture straight out of a tabloid magazine found under the mattress of a young male Summoner. It all started with an innocent nurse's cap and flowed down into a slender hourglass figure adorned with red and white, before being capped off with a pair of white nylons and candy red high heeled sandals.
"Look at you." Ahri licked her own lips in a long and deliberate way. "Playing doctor while dressing like that. Aren't you having a little too much fun?"
"This isn't a costume." Akali, the Fist of the Shadows, did not look up from the paperwork she was filling out. She idly crossed one stocking clad leg over another, and the nine-tailed fox could hear the sound of the silky white nylons chafing against each other. "I'm a licensed nurse by the Institute."
"Beautiful healer by day, and killer assassin by night." Forcing herself to look away before she grew jealous, Ahri decided to cut to the chase. "Did Irelia put you up to this?"
"Don't be so paranoid." Akali still did not look up from the paperwork she was filling out. Her tone did not change from the calm, collected, and annoyingly formal way of speaking she always took when answering her questions. "And before you ask; no, Shen didn't ask me either. I'm here because I want to hear it from you. We're friends, right?"
"I guess we are," Ahri said with a huff, crossing her arms under her chest. "I've only known you since you barely measured up to my knees. What do you want to know?"
This time Akali stopped and set aside what she had been working on a nearby countertop with a loud clatter. "Would you stop with the attitude? Did I say I was here to interrogate you?"
"...Sorry." Letting out a delicate sigh, Ahri apologized right after. She began to idly curl her long black bangs around a finger, looking down at the floor as she did. "I've been a little on edge."
Seeing the nine-tailed fox's expression change, Akali's own softened a little. "I understand. It's not every day that the goons of a mad scientist want to kidnap you."
"Hah hah, very funny." The nine-tailed fox had to suppress a deep-throated groan. Probably one of the most genuine ones she had ever done. "After all of this, I still don't know what Viktor's goons wanted with me. Maybe you could—?"
"I don't know either. It's not as if they would tell me if I asked." Akali looked up at a clock on the wall and noted the time on the form she was filling out.
"They?"
"The Institute," Akali said as if the answer was obvious. "Everyone here has been talking about it. The rumors are that they're even thinking about launching a formal inquiry because no one has been able to get in contact with Viktor to get his side of the story."
Ahri raised an unamused brow at the kunoichi. "I thought you said no one tells you anything?"
"You said it before; I'm a ninja. It's not my fault that I have very good hearing." Standing up in her seat, Akali collected a few tools from some various jars before walking over and raising a hand to the side of Ahri's face. As she did, the nine-tailed fox wordlessly leaned into it and began to nuzzle it affectionately, grinning from ear to ear all the while for a reaction out of the ninja nurse. "I was going to ask if you're having any trouble breathing from the polluted air, but I'm glad to see you haven't changed at all." Trying not to sound too exasperated or relieved at her patient's behavior, Akali moved her hand down the nine-tailed fox's slender neck.
Ahri continuing to wear an ever pleasant smile on her face while being examined by the killer assassin. "It has been a while, hasn't it?" She stopping her playing and dutifully turned her head so that the ninja nurse could examine the inside of her ears next.
"I've been busy."
"Too busy to play with an old friend?"
"I've been busy," Akali repeated.
"Doing what?"
"...It's complicated."
Ahri let out a delicate sigh, her smile turning to brittle glass. "Let me guess; Irelia doesn't trust me, so that means you don't either?"
"..."
Being met with silence, Ahri frowned in a sour pout before deciding to try her luck. "I heard about what happened. Were you helping Shen rebuild the Kinkou Order?" Met with more silence, she turned her head to her other side when Akali motioned for her too. "No. You're not the type that builds anything. You're better at tearing things down, right?"
Still being examined while holding a one-sided conversation, the nine-tailed fox covered her mouth to hide the sneer on her face before letting out a haughty laugh. "Ah hah hah, I'm sorry, did I say something rude? Well since you're never picked by Summoners, you could always comfort him between matches with a quick—OWCH!"
In a flash, Akali had reached out and pinched one of her ears sharply. "You bitch!" Ahri snapped angrily, taking a swing at Akali with an open-palmed hand. But it was stopped in mid-air by Akali's deceptively strong hands, which caught her wrist in an iron grip.
"...Take off your leggings too." Akali said, with no change in her voice from the monotones she had been speaking in from the very start.
Grumbling another obscenity under her breath, Ahri yanked her wrist free from the slackened grip of the kunoichi before raising her legs up and onto the examination table. "Great. You leave me for a month, and you're just as bad as them now."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Refusing to play along, Akali reached for her clipboard to write down her observations before something caught her eye.
"...Ahri."
"What?"
"You...ugh, have some sort of slime between your toes," Akali said, with a mixture of disgust and concern in her voice. Some sort of green, slick gelatinous substance was situated between the perfect pedicured toes of the nine-tailed fox in stark contrast to her pale skin and shining red toenails. "Please tell me you weren't playing in one of those toxic landfills Zaun has everywhere."
"Oh, that's because he was giving me a massage," Ahri said, raising her own foot while wiggling her toes with disinterest.
"A what?" Akali asked deftly, realizing that she had asked the wrong question. "Who was?"
"A foot massage," Ahri repeated casually. "I was teaching Zac how to do it. For someone without a brain, literally, he's a quick learner. Those big hands of his are strong but gentle in all the right ways."
"Why would he…?" The kunoichi let out an involuntary shudder at the thought of having some like the Secret Weapon in contact her bare skin. Nevermind because she had asked for it. "Why would you let that thing touch you?"
"Hey, don't talk about him that way." Ahri's tone changed immediately, and not in the same way that had been frustrated by her inability to get a rise out of the kunoichi. "I'll have you know he's a perfect gentleman."
From the look the killer nurse was giving her, she knew that she wasn't being taken seriously. "Fine. Don't believe me. But he's stronger than anyone else in the League, and I know he supports me no matter what. Can you say the same about anyone else besides Shen and Kennen?"
Ahri should have known that she would be met with more silence, and after a moment of more notetaking, Akali decided to switch subjects to something else. "I got a peculiar request from Luxanna Crownguard the other day. She's being sent by the Demacia to meet with the Duchess, but wanted to stay with me at the new temple before she heads to the Placidium. Do you know why?"
"I don't know what you're implying," Ahri said, taking her leggings and putting them back on slowly so that they lined up perfectly up her shapely leg. "After all, aren't we all friends?"
"I guess we are." Walking back to her chair to write down some final notes, Akali did not look up from her charts when she motioned to the closed door. "You can leave now. Try to stay out of trouble, okay?"
"I will. And you try not to murder anyone because of their balance is off," Ahri mimicked Akali's voice slipping on her flats effortlessly and heading straight for the door.
Taking no satisfaction from slamming the door behind her loudly, she marched back to the lobby going from one hall to another in a maze of offices and storage closets. When she finally got back to where she wanted to be, the only two people there to greet her were some of the last she wanted to see. Worst of all, there were no signs of the one person she had specifically and very politely insisted wait for her to return, right after she had talked about his loyalty and dedication to her.
"Where did he go?" Ahri asked Katarina, who had been looking over at the other person in the room with a scheming interest.
"Who?" Katarina asked as a question for a question.
"You know who!" Ahri snapped, feeling her blood begin to boil when Katarina flashed a snide smirk.
"On the Rift for a practice match." She pointed toward the elevator doors. "Something about that kid Janna is towing along. I guess he ditched you, huh?"
"What? You mean Ekko?" Thinking about the spunky little boy with the white hourglass painted on his face, the idea of him being on a Field of Justice was strange. Are they going to let him go onto the Rift? But why?
"And where are you going?" Katarina asked, although she already knew the answer when the nine-tailed fox began pressing the button to call the elevator car repeatedly.
"Where else?" Ahri did not turn around to look at her when she answered. "Someone has to go mid, and it isn't you."
Katarina let out a huff, in spite of not caring about the petty insult slung her way. Watching the doors to the elevator close and whisk away the furry bimbo out of her view, she then turned to look at Yasuo who was asleep in a nearby chair. The bushy haired ronin was deeply asleep, with several empty bottles cradled in his arms as if they were his only possessions in the world.
Why did we have to bring her? Even this drunken bastard would have been better than this.
"How are you feeling?" Zac said, walking over to the large arcane stone and looking up to Ekko. The room they were in together was dark, illuminated only by the magic of all the runic stones organized around them. A place designed for Champions to gather their thoughts before they were summoned onto the Fields of Justice.
"Better than before, now that I don't have so many holes in me." The young Zaunite looked down at his overalls which still had holes in them, through which the stark white of his bandaged legs stood out against his skin. "Those doctors said that some of the pieces of concrete had stabbed me really deeply. If it weren't for you, I could have bled to death back there."
"Don't mention it." Crossing his arms and leaning back against the walls of the summoning room. "You sure you're up for this? It looks like you took a heck of a beating."
"Huh? Yeah, well, they're just for show." Ekko patted his own legs firmly to show him he meant it. "The white coats said that there's going to be some scars, even with the magic they used."
"Well, think of them as memories. The day you fought an army of Viktor's goons and won."
"Haha, yeah, right. Like anyone would believe me if I said that." Ekko kicked his legs against the stone wall he was sitting atop. "I meant to ask. Were you able to find anything out?"
"Huh?"
"The big bastard. Cronk. Did he say anything before you beat him up?"
"Oh." Zac frowned, remembering what the young Zaunite had said to him earlier. "Yeah, no. I'm sorry I couldn't get the answers you wanted."
"You tried for me. That's better than what anyone else would have done." Ekko said, laughing the matter off. But in spite of that Zac could feel the disappointment in his voice.
"Maybe we should send Janna after him," Zac said, trying to lighting up the mood a little. "She seems like she would turn this city over for you."
He watched Ekko's expression change into something unreadable.
"Do you really think so?"
"Yeah, I do." Ekko was looking up at the dark ceiling, and he started too as well. "Why? What's on your mind?"
"It's all happening too fast. She's talking about taking me with her." Ekko stopped staring up at the magical abyss and down to his bandage wrapped hands. "A few days ago, my biggest worry was trying to tell my parents that I didn't want to go to some university in Piltover. Now my face is all over Zaun, fighting against the followers of a League Champion! I saw the stories at that Institute place, and they've got pictures of me with you guys!"
"Woah, woah, woah. One thing at a time." The Secret Weapon was beginning to understand why the young kid had such an unreadable look on his face. "I can't speak for his goons, but I don't think Viktor will hold it against you for what happened."
"Are you sure? You really think so?"
"He's a strange one, but I think his heart is in the right place. Sort of. If he even still has one," Zac joked, before trying to sound serious. "But doesn't look like that's everything. So besides that, what else is eating at you?"
"Man, you can tell?" Ekko went back to kicking his boots against the stone carved runes, fidgeting about as he did. "It's… About Janna. I guess. It's complicated."
"Are you still scared of being seen with her?"
"I'm not scared!" Ekko shouted, before lowering his voice back down to a normal level. "That's… It's complicated, alright?"
"You can tell me what you're thinking. It may not look like it, but I'm good at keeping secrets." Zac puffed his out his chest as he spoke in a display of strength, which did little to change the clouded look on Ekko's face.
"It's… Well, it's her big...political...campaign...thing!" the young Zaunite spluttered out, sounding both frustrated and afraid at the same time.
"Okay. What about it?"
"She says she wants me to help her, but I feel like she's just parading me around like...like...some kind of toy. Like I'm some sort of proof of how terrible Zaun is." Ekko closed his fist tightly to feel the constrictive wrappings bend to his will. "I know things aren't always the greatest, but I know that we like who we are. We're not all suffering like we need to be saved by her."
"Have you told her what you're thinking?"
"What? No, I can't! I mean, man," Ekko let out a groan, running his hand through his white mohawk only after he had pulled his face down once. "After today? After everything she's done for me? I still can't believe she remembered me. Ekko, the sumpsnipe of two poor factory workers. And her? They call her the Storm's Fury. She's talented in magic, popular with everyone, and really beautiful to top it all off. She doesn't have to bother with me, with anyone from around here! But all I've been hearing is about how she's fighting for us. For Zaunites, like me."
Zac stayed silent, saying nothing for a few moments. He was taking a hard look at Ekko from his two pupiless yellow eyes, adding up everything he had seen for himself over the last day in his head. "...This is more than just Janna, right? You've got a past with the vigilnauts. With Viktor's followers."
Ekko didn't say anything, and for the first time the Secret Weapon could hear the magical buzz of the runes around them. A sign that the Ascension battle was going to begin soon, whether they liked it or not.
"If you don't want to talk about it, I get it—"
"No! No… I shouldn't hide it." Looking up at the black abyss above them, Ekko let out a resigned sigh. "You should know what happened to him."
Him?
In spite of Zac not saying anything, Ekko began to tell his story. "Viktor's guys… They pass through the streets a lot. They do a lot of good things, like helping people recover from disabilities with their augments. But I know the truth; they're just looking for people to experiment on. Viktor doesn't care about the people. All he cares about is developing the techmaturgy in the implants he's putting into them."
Stopping for a moment, Ekko reached around his back and swung his Z-Drive around so that he could cradle it in his lap.
"There was a kid we all looked up to. He was like Janna; someone who knew the streets of Zaun, and he taught us all how to take care of ourselves. He was our hero. He was one of us. He could have gone to some fancy school in Zaun for geniuses and left us all behind. But he didn't. He cared for us more than himself."
"But one day they came?" Zac asked, although it sounded more like a statement than a question.
Ekko nodded. "Yeah, the followers of the Machine Herald; followers of the Glorious Evolution. They came to the streets, promising people the opportunity to better themselves. A chance to work, and break free from the shackles that kept us on the streets. We all thought it was too good to be true. But then people started coming back, telling us stories about miracles." The young Zaunite stared deep into the hextech device in his lap, and the Secret Weapon wondered if he was capable of seeing into the past with it. "People who couldn't walk were getting new legs. People who couldn't see were getting new eyes. People who got the augments weren't the same old gutter trash everyone looked down on. We were better than all of the others that lived in the skies above. It was insane. Before we knew it, even people from across the river were coming down to the slums to volunteer themselves to the Glorious Evolution. But they turned those people away, insisting that their Machine Herald only helped those who deserve a second chance at life."
Ekko paused, but did not look up from his prize invention in his arms.
"He did it for us. He left with them one day, saying that he would come back stronger than ever. He was going to become a real hero like we all looked up to him as, and come back to get us anything we ever wanted."
Zac finally realized what the expression on Ekko's face was when the youth finally stopped staring into his one-man time machine.
"I'll never forget the day they returned him to us. They just dumped him on the street in front of us all, and never said a word before leaving. Something had gone wrong with his implant. The thing they put into his body. What was supposed to give him super strength had left him paralyzed from the waist down."
Haunted. That was the word for it. The same look he had seen on Riven's face too, but only once.
"We tried to take care of him as best we could. Stealing food, medicine, and supplies. We didn't care about going hungry as long as we could support him. All the while all he would do is apologize to us. He blamed himself for what Viktor did to him. He always said it was because he was garbage, and he hated that we had to take care of him. That's why he… He…"
Ekko's voice had dropped to a whisper. Words spoken in a meager and ragged wheeze, being forced to describe something terrible Zac knew was coming.
"I still remember him hanging by the bandages I had gotten him. His body half slumped on the ground."
He could see the young Zaunite's hands gripping the metal ends of his Z-Drive like he wanted to crush it with his bare hands. But there was something stopping him; a feeling that the Secret Weapon who was still listening silently knew all too well.
"I don't understand! Why did it have to happen to him! Why!?" Ekko finally screamed, knowing that no one in the universe had an answer for him. "I don't want to be called a victim! The real victims are the ones that are already dead! Like him! He was… He was a hero to us! And I couldn't do anything to stop him from dying while thinking of himself as garbage! It isn't fair!"
The boy who repeatedly shattered time finally looked up from telling his tale of woe. Even if Zac hadn't listened to a word he had said, the story was readable on his face. Anger. Sadness. Exhaustion. But more than anything else, there was frustration.
"I don't know what this is about. Why am I here!? You know how all these guys at the Institute of War work!" Ekko shouted at Zac. "I know they wouldn't just let some kid go onto a Field of Justice because he's the friend of another Champion. So I want you to tell me! Why am I really here!? Why do I get to be here when he isn't!?"
Reigning in his emotions from his outburst, Ekko hung his head in shame turning away from the Secret Weapon.
"I'm… I don't know what I'm telling you this." These words came out weak and feeble, weighed down by regret. "I'm sorry, but I just—"
"It feels weird being called a victim, right?" Zac said, and continued even when Ekko did not turn to face him again. "Between you and me? I've never been called a victim. By anyone. Even the ones that know the truth about me."
Trying to keep up appearances, Zac scanned the room around them. Looking for anything he could use, the Secret Weapon turned to a nearby wall that didn't have any kind of magic runes carved into it. He began to draw on it, using his own green slime as a medium.
"The story they pass around about is that I was raised by my parents after they broke me out of the lab that gave birth to me. That part is pretty true, I guess. The place belonged to some chem baron called Saito Takeda. Never seen him myself. From what I know, he wanted to try and raise me to be some sort of super weapon to fight the gangs of other chem barons for control over the streets. When he learned that I was still alive with my parents, he sent some augmented thugs to kidnap them to try and force me to come back to the lab. The Institute tells everyone that I beat up my parent's captors and came home a hero, but that's not the truth."
Stopping for a second, he smacked his palm against the stone surface with a wet splat. All of the drawing his had made with his own goo on the stone wall came to life, and flew back to rejoin his body with a life of their own.
"You're asking me why you're here? Well, I don't know. Because that's what you have to decide right now."
Pointing a giant finger at Ekko, Zac made sure that he was looking the young Zaunite straight in the eye.
"You're not a normal kid; Janna sees something in you. Something that you may not even realize about yourself. She's not having you tag along with her out of pity; she's doing it because she's hoping you'll be inspired by her work and use your talents toward helping Zaun become a better place. And I'm not just talking about beating up chem pushers after school and before bed."
The Secret Weapon looked at his own hand, tightly clenching a fist together from his fingers as he did.
"But… Between you and me? I don't deserve to talk about it like I'm involved. Believe it or not, I haven't done much after I became a Champion in the League. But I'm working on that right now because that's why I'm on this mission of mine. I need to stop hiding from the world, and act like a hero I keep letting the Institute paint me as."
"You're going?" Ekko asked, watching Zac head for the door they had entered into together.
"This is your chance to shine, not mine." Zac stopped in the open doorway, but did not look at him when he spoke. "Go show her that her faith in you isn't misplaced, and don't worry about who may be watching, or why."
"...Hey! Can you give me any advice!?" Ekko suddenly thought to shout at Zac's disappearing backside. "I'll take anything!"
"Good luck!" Zac said walking out the door, and gave the young Zaunite a thumbs up before it slammed shut behind him.
"...Good luck? That's it?" Ekko grumbled disappointment. Slinging his Zero Drive back around his back, the hextech device felt lighter than before. But that fact was lost on the young boy who was trying to picture the smiling face of a beautiful wind mage to stave off the mounting dread in his gut.
"Huh? What are you doing back? I was going to join you."
"Change of plans." Zac did not stop walking as Ahri began to keep pace with him. Together they walked through the halls of the Zaun branch of the Institute, getting looks from everyone they passed as they did. "I'm going to get some fresh air before we have to leave for the port."
"Fresh air? Really?"
"Yeah." Stopping in place, the Secret Weapon turned to look down at the nine-tailed fox before holding his arm out to her.
"...Want to come with me?"
"Of course," Ahri said, accepting his offer while putting on a smile that stretched all the way up her cheeks. With all nine of her tails swaying back and forth behind her, she boldly strode forward with her arm linked to his. "Even if this city is a disgusting cesspool, I'll remember our second date fondly."
"Third."
"Third?" Ahri looked up at him in confusion. "When?"
"Our first date was when you pushed me down those stairs, and the second was when you brought me dinner the day before we had to leave," Zac explained, not returning her look as he did. "So this is our third. Right?"
"Well I'm glad one of us is keeping track," Ahri said, changing her expression to one that she hoped was guaranteed to pry the secrets out of her target. "...So, where were you going to go? Did something happen?"
"It's not my turn to be on that field." When Zac spoke it was with the rare, firm confidence that she was beginning to envy. "That show is about Ekko. Or something like that. They should be looking at him, not us."
"Janna's little cutie? He's something special, isn't he?"
"You can tell?"
"Something about him. He's not a regular human, that's for sure." Ahri brought a finger up to her lip to make it seem like she was thinking deeply. "It's going to sound weird, but I swear I keep seeing two of him. Like a living shadow trailing behind him, repeating everything he was doing four seconds in the past."
"I don't know about that," Zac said, shaking his head as he looked up at the polluted skies just outside of the lobby they were crossing. "Maybe the Zaunite Gray is getting to you too."
"I don't particularly enjoy bathing in the smell of chemicals and human waste, but I'll manage." Crossing a mental checklist of courtesies off in her mind, it was time to ask the million dollar question. "Have you talked to her?"
"Her?"
"Riven." He knew who she was talking about, and she wondered why he would pretend otherwise. "About her problem."
"She'll be fine," Zac answered with a firm, deflective certainty.
"Are you sure? It seemed kind of serious. I don't know if Janna is going to be staying with us to help us out."
"She's strong. She'll survive," Zac answered again, unwavered by the hard truth.
"So, did they ask you a lot of questions too?" Ahri asked, deciding to shift subjects away from the problem she hadn't figured out how to deal with yet.
"Something like that," Zac answered in an unsatisfactory way. "I hope they weren't too hard on you. This wasn't your fault."
"I certainly hope no one would think it is." Ahri put her hands on her hips, "I don't know what Viktor would want with me. I'm the furthest thing from his evolution crap there is."
"If they come back, I'll take care of them next time."
"You'll take care of me?"
Zac smiled at her proudly. It was the first time she had seen it, and it make her smile too.
"I'll take care of anyone in our way."
Author's Note: ran into a lot of problems with how I wanted to end this chapter which is why it is so terribly delayed. Hopefully it won't happen for the next one.