A/N:
Yup. New PC. I'm totally not excited…
OMG, I have a new computer! :D
Oh well, anyways, I wanted to add a little note to this story: I've been checking my little notebook where I've scribbled down the events and the overall plotline of the story, and checking it now while I was gone for a while, I realized that this story is relatively short ._. But let's see how long it will be ^^
CHAPTER 1:5
The sun was slowly descending from its magnificent seat in the sky and Jayce enjoyed every minute of it. He could never cease being amazed by nature's wonders, even simple one such as a sunset. A soft, cool breeze gently brushed aside his chestnut-brown hair and he inhaled quietly the scent of blossoming flowers.
Simply astonishing… that something so distant is providing our whole world with life. Jayce stretched out on the bench and yawned. What a powerful source of energy… I hope it will be in my lifetime when we finally achieve to reach the stars.
It was just a couple of months ago when the City of Progress succeeded in creating a public transportation tool thanks to some old drawings found by Ezreal. They had no official names yet but were large techmaturgy-powered objects travelling underground. So far only Zaun had accepted to try the system out and every other nation seemed hostile towards the project. Viktor was on his way here using the transport and Jayce had been waiting for quite a while now, sitting alone on a bench.
"Is it free here?"
He gestured for the woman to sit down and she gave him a thankful smile. Her hair was ebony and trailed down in curls towards her shoulders, framing her beautiful features. Jayce didn't take any more notice of her other than her strangely colored eyes: golden, like the scenery in front of him.
"So…"
The woman leaned forward and propped her elbows on her legs. She stared into the horizon, her eyes seemingly unaffected by the blaze, and sighed heavily.
"What is it?" he asked and straightened. The bench they were sharing was large enough to fit the two of them without any problems, but he didn't want to be rude and gave her more space.
She shook her head, smiling apologetically, and turned to him.
"Nothing," she answered and shrugged. "I… I'm just… hurt. Not physically of course but you understand…"
"Aha, I see."
The black-haired woman bit her lower lip and scrutinized him from head to toe. He surprisingly enough didn't feel awkward at all, but empathic. Maybe she is in a situation similar to mine. If only I could muster up enough courage to tell Cait the truth… but then again, she would never want to see me after that.
"What would you do if you if you were betrayed by someone you once loved? If this person would search for you, night and day, just to have you die?"
Jayce stiffened in his seat. How… how simply atrocious; what man could possibly behave like such a detestable being?
"I guess I would start over again," he replied after a pause. "I… I honestly cannot answer your question and I gladly admit that I've never gone through something like that. It must be completely… heartbreaking."
She nodded thoughtfully and their eyes locked. For a second it felt like the woman next to him devoured his whole body, throwing it from side to side and buried into his mind. His defenses crumbled, the world started spinning and everything he saw was her. Everything.
But then it disappeared as quickly as it had washed over him and she averted her gaze.
"I'm sorry," she simply said and clenched her fists. "I just wondered if you were telling me the truth."
Jayce gasped and tried to come up with an answer when he got interrupted by a much familiar voice. He turned around and saw a slender, black-haired man approach him with long strides. The man gave him a grin and thumbs up, showing that he was alright even after using the prototype transport between Piltover and Zaun.
Jayce smiled back at his friend but as he glanced to his left, he saw that the strange woman had disappeared. He was sitting alone on the bench and there was not even a trace of the golden-eyed woman whatsoever. Nothing.
How odd… I can swear that she was real, he thought and looked about. I can even smell her perfume lingering in the air. Where did she go?
"Jayce."
He rose up and greeted his old friend with fervor, hugging Viktor's skinny shape. To his surprise, Jayce felt something odd beneath the cyborg's usual attire – a sapphire blue cloak swept around most of his body, a pair of black trousers and a dark scarf around his neck – as his hand touched something protruding out of Viktor's shoulder.
"That's fine. Now, give me some room to breathe."
Jayce grinned and examined the man in front of him. The similarities between the two of them were few, probably only their height and passion for techmaturgy, but it was enough to become good friends. They were more like each other's opposites, where Viktor was shy and reserved in company with women and Jayce felt confident. His half-robot, half-human friend wasn't exactly "uninterested" but much too uncomfortable conversing with strangers. Fortunately enough, Viktor's habit of stammering had dissipated during the years and made it much easier for Jayce to flirt in bars and get his friend some female company. They Zaunite wasn't ugly, absolutely not, but his insecurity made him look unattractive in most eyes.
Though there was one woman that Viktor simply couldn't handle nor talk to, and not because he lacked confidence, but because he disliked her: the Sheriff of Piltover. Whenever – yeah, whenever, even if they only met briefly – he saw Caitlyn, Viktor just furiously took off, refusing to explain himself afterwards. It was a peculiar behavior, but Jayce had always been too polite to ask why. He guessed that it was because of that time when the Sheriff had slipped in pouring rain and grabbed hold onto Viktor's cloak, leading to not only a mess but an exposed cyborg.
Jayce shuddered involuntarily. I will never forget what I saw, what horror that had been brought upon a human body. It still amazes me how Viktor can walk and move normally, when his flesh has been stripped away and been replaced with steel.
"Something wrong? Is any part of me loose?"
Jayce quickly cleared his mind from any of the past thoughts and shook his head.
"Certainly not," he replied, still smiling. "Let's go."
His black-haired friend raised an eyebrow but Jayce shrugged it off and pointed towards the City of Progress, hovering above their heads and well-placed on the mountain. The largest part of the city – the Industrial – was located in the vast marsh surrounding Piltover, at ground level. There were residential areas, good ones, here as well but everyone knew that living in the actual city was for the "richer".
Viktor followed him and they started walking towards a large building. Piltover was famous for their beautiful and modern, white architecture, but the construction they were approaching was gray and well-guarded.
"Where are you taking me?" asked Viktor and scoffed. "I'm not carrying bombs or anything…"
"Very amusing," replied Jayce and tried to sound serious even though he was about to smile. "But the government cannot take any risks. You got to sign up that you have permission to be here, or you won't gain access to the Piltover."
Viktor pulled his cloak tighter and huffed. His black eyes analyzed the soldiers patrolling the building and furrowed his brows.
"Seems like Piltover has gone through a lot since I last visited," he said, his neutral but slightly scornful voice taking on a curious edge. "So the old elevators are gone? What are you going to do with the stations? I don't know if people would want to live there; it's kind of shady directly underneath the city.
Jayce entered the building through the automatic double-doors and nodded to the guard closest to him. The man recognized him and nodded in return.
"I guess they'll be sold to private businesses," answered Jayce and approached a free check-out where an attractive, young woman casually handled some paperwork. There were more guards inside as well. "Excuse me?"
She looked up and gave him a little more than polite smile. Jayce knew that his appearance was of much approval to most women, but he could never look at someone else except Caitlyn. He could admit that he at times had tried to find someone else – someone who actually would return his affection – but it always ended up bad for him… either that, or it wasn't enough.
"My friend is here to visit me for an unknown amount of time," said Jayce and gestured towards Viktor, the latter pulling his scarf up higher to conceal the lower part of his face. "He's from Zaun and came here using the new transports."
The brown-haired woman leaned back to reach a paper and handed it to him.
"Do you have a certificate on your identity?" she wondered and turned to her computer. "Your driving license will suffice."
Jayce gave her the small, yellowish card and she pulled it through a scanner. After some quick managing with numbers and names, they got their permission and were pointed through a corridor and reached another pair of double-doors. These were on the other hand not automatic and Jayce felt Viktor's inquisitive gaze as he entered the code he had received from the woman.
"…17."
Jayce nervously waited a couple of seconds, afraid that he might've missed one of the many numbers written down on the paper he was holding, but the doors opened with a soft sound and he exhaled.
"So… How does this work?"
He turned to Viktor and the cyborg carefully stepped through the doors, taking in every detail of his surroundings. Jayce gave him a reassuring smile and urged his friend to follow him.
"Some yordle came up with the idea to copy what the Adjucators are issuing in the Institute of War," replied Jayce and they passed a couple of families. "You've surely heard of their ability to teleport a champion to the Fields of Justice, an alternative dimension or their 'playground' as some say."
Viktor nodded and listened attentively as Jayce found two empty platforms.
"These," he continued and pointed at the short pedestal, "are working as portals. With the right code, they'll take you to different places in Piltover. Where do you want to go first? Are you hungry?"
The cyborg shook his head and crouched down to examine the platforms. He hesitated before touching the smooth metal and traced its green-glowing rune marks.
"How?" he asked with awe. "I don't understand… how can something this simple, teleport a human being?"
"Well, Piltover is after all 'the City of Progress'," answered Jayce and Viktor rose up, his expression mixed with admiration and suppressed confusion. The Zaunite didn't want to admit that even his intellectual mind was unable to understand how the pedestals worked. "It's hextech, magic and techmaturgy mended into one brilliant piece. The yordles are great and I think that a former summoner also tattled a bit. Shall we go?"
Viktor nodded and stepped onto the platform, copying Jayce's move. He gave his friend the four-digit code to use and a familiar blue light enveloped the two, sending them up to Piltover.
A/N:
Anyone recognizing the golden-eyed woman? ^^