The land that resided below the great city of progress was quite the opposite. To the north was Piltover, and to the south, the Undercity. However, over the past two decades the Undercity residents had begun to protest against the north, declaring themselves as Zaunites. Three young men and their followers were responsible for this sudden change in attitude. Vander, Benzo, and Silco had big dreams for their future nation of Zaun. They spoke out against the enforcers and shared their ideas with the undercity dwellers about independence from Piltover. These were dreams that had been wished upon before, but now with these three men leading, it actually seemed possible. Until that fateful day.
Silco was struggling under the water as Vandar held him down, squeezing his throat tighter. For the two who had once been as close as brothers, a difference in ideals is what led to this. During the brutal fight, Vandar had cut at Silco with a knife, striking his left eye. While Silco struggled to breathe and fight Vandar off, the toxins in the water had already entered the wound in his eye. Turning the sclera completely black and the iris a molten orange, one could have mistaken it for actual lava. Silco survives this attempt at his life, by using Vandar's own knife against him and slashing at his arm, then he escapes. He never forgets that feeling of betrayal as he slips into the shadows of Zaun, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Timeskip (Set between Act 1 & Act 2)
It had been almost 8 full months since the death of Vandar and his kids, not that Sapphire had ever paid much mind to it. It wasn't any of her business anyway. Sapphire was not the usual type of Zaunite that you would expect to come across. She was an odd mix, her mother had been from Piltover while her father had been a denizen of the Undercity. She could have moved to Piltover with the money her mother had left behind after her death, but Sapphire had lived all 20 years of her life in the Undercity, and she didn't get along with the elitist's up north. Honestly, she hated those that lived the highlife up above, but she hated that every damn week she had to go up there to get raw materials for her craft. Sapphire was a jeweler, she would make earrings, bracelets, necklaces, watches, etc. If it was a metal accessory, she could make it. Living in the undercity, jewelry was not a required thing to survive, but the people with the money in Zaun liked to show that they had the money. Sapphire had a mix of pieces, made from the cheapest materials to more expensive metals. Some of the most expensive were the surgical steel earrings. This used the same kind of metal as the one used in the cybernetic enhancements found commonly in Zaun. Her little stall was set up in the Promenade, usually from dawn until dusk.
It was hot. Ungodly, unbearably hot. The goons working for Silco were glad there wasn't much to do today except to stay in and relax in the nice air conditioning that circulated through The Last Drop. Until Silco came downstairs, that is, holding Jinx's hand as they walked. Sevika following close behind. "Keep the bar closed until we've returned." Silco ordered as he stepped outside into the blazing sun. Sevika shut the door behind them, huffing from the heat already swallowing them whole. After only a few minutes of walking through the lanes had Silco regretting his attire for the day. He could feel his shirt and vest sticking to him with sweat and his tie felt it was slowly suffocating him. He reached up with his left hand to adjust his tie again for what felt like the umpeenth time today as they began to reach the end of the lanes, but the beginning of the promenade. Jinx's birthday was coming up soon and he had no clue what to get her. He figured the best place to find it would be here in the stalls of the Promenade. Still in the undercity, but close enough to have nice products from Piltover. Jinx, who had been keeping quiet most of the way here suddenly became energized as the small shops came into view.
"Can I go look around?!" She was excited, eyes bouncing from one stall to the next as she surveyed their products.
"Of course, we can look at whatever you'd like today." Silco smiled softly as he patted her head, almost absentmindedly now. Despite having only taken her in 8 months ago, he was already thinking of her as his daughter. He was going to find the perfect 12th birthday present today. He had to. Jinx, still holding Silco's hand, pulled him by each and every single stall. The crowd was quick to part when they saw the Eye of Zaun coming toward them.
Sapphire had been reading a book, having not had a customer in over an hour when a hushed silence came over the crowd. Normally the crowd was loud and boisterous, so this put her on edge. Usually, this meant some enforcers were walking through and giving icy glares, but she could not have expected that the de facto leader of the Undercity, The Eye of Zaun himself, Silco, was headed towards her stall holding hands with a little girl with blue hair.
The little girl let go of his hand to begin looking over the assortment of jewelry on the table. "Wow… They are all so pretty…" Jinx breathed out in awe. A necklace near the edge of the table caught her eye. It had one charm on it, but the charm was made of two different colored gemstones in the shape of birds. Jinx carefully picked up the charm, tracing her fingers over the pink and blue gems.
"Are those your favorite colors?" Sapphire asked, smiling at her, although inside she was freaking the hell out. One, she had never really related well with kids. She had been the younger sibling and had never had to. Second, Silco himself was also looking at the wares on her table, however he kept his hands behind his back.
"Yes! But I like other colors too!" Jinx replied, still holding the necklace in her hands, before turning to Silco and tugging at his vest. Sapphire couldn't hide it as her smile got wider. The child was absolutely adorable and if she was Silco's kid, then maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all.
"Did you make all of these by hand?" Silco's voice was not like you had expected it to be. Of course, you detected no warmth in it, but he didn't come off as threatening yet. He looked over at the necklace in Jinx's hands. "Is this the one you'd like?" He asked her, his voice much warmer with the affection he held for the little girl.
"Y-yes, I made them m-myself…" Sapphire hated hearing herself stutter, but this one of the few times she had been absolutely terrified in her life.
"Please! Can we get this one!?" Jinx begged, trying her best to turn her blue eyes into the best puppy dog eyes she could as her lip jutted out in a pout. Silco chuckled and ruffled her hair before taking the necklace from her hands.
"Of course." Silco smiled at Jinx softly, smile falling as he turned to address Sapphire. "We'd like this one." He stated, shoving a bag of coins into Sapphire's hands, which she almost dropped.
"B-but Sir, T-this is too much." Sapphire protested, feeling the weight of the bag. Silco had just given her three, no maybe five times the value of that necklace.
"Keep it. I have a feeling we'll be back here again." Silco smirked, actually enjoying the arrangement that was on the table. He knew Jinx would like to come back here again. Silco kneeled down and helped Jinx put the necklace on, the little girl squealing with joy before hugging him. Silco took Jinx's hand again and began to walk back to the lanes, but he did hear the stall keeper tell him to have a good day. That girl had seemed absolutely terrified when she had served them, but she did have the skills for making such things. That gave him an idea as they headed back to The Last Drop. He would need to commission a few pieces.
Sapphire still couldn't believe the amount of gold in the bag. However, she cut a small piece of paper jutting out of it. A small card that read "FREE ENTRY: ONE NIGHT ONLY" to The Last Drop. Now that The Last Drop had been turned into a club, it seemed to make sense that a door fee was charged, yet here she was with a get in free slip. Clubs weren't really her scene, but… She hadn't had a night off in a while. Perhaps it would be okay to check it out.