Chapter VIII:

Percy immediately knew something was wrong.

It was the way the man stared at him. It wasn't with the normal dejectedness of the homeless. There was real malice in his eyes. Eyes that glowed with an unnatural purple. The tattered clothes clinging to his frame were stained with something dark and sticky. The way he walked toward Percy, stiff and crooked. Like his bones didn't quite know how to cooperate anymore.

"Sir, are you alright?" Percy asked, staying put where he was at one end of the corridor. "Do you need some help, sir?'"

The man answered with a guttural snarl and lunged.

He didn't make it far, slipping and crashing to the ground.

"Stay back!" Percy kept his rifle glued to his side, but allowed his finger to slide onto the trigger. "I don't want to hurt you, sir. I'm here to help."

The man growled as his hands clawed at the cobblestone like a spider would. Steam hissed from the man's flesh where it met the ground. His eyes were bleeding violet now. The smell that followed was thick and rotting, like something long dead had finally started to decay.

The man began to growl again.

Percy leveled his rifle.

The shot traveled more right than he intended, striking the man in the shoulder. But it might as well have been a paintball for all the good it did. Percy could've shot him a hundred more times, and the man probably wouldn't have noticed. The purple fluid that burst from the wound only made him snarl louder.

"I'm warning you!" Percy backed away. "I don't want to hurt you!"

The man lunged again, impossibly fast.

"Shit." Percy fought the urge to unsheathe Riptide, instead smashing the butt of his rifle into the man's head.

A sickening crack echoed as the man collapsed in a heap, the sutures of his skull splitting open. His fingers were still twitching, his body hunched like he could might pounce at any moment.

"Alright, Clarisse." Percy cursed. "Which one of your fucking zombies followed me all the way here."

The pounding in his head faded as the rest of his patrol caught up.

"Jackson!" one of the Enforcers called. "You good?"

"What happened?" Marcus asked. "What's that… purple stuff?"

Percy dropped to one knee beside the body, the man's skin already turning a sickly grey. "Somebody call a transport."

A handful of passersby had gathered. Far enough that they probably couldn't hear, but close enough to see what he'd done. Their faces said enough.

Fear.

Percy glanced down at the corpse, then back at the crowd. "I didn't have a choice," he muttered. "I had to kill him."

"Hm?" Marcus looked over. "Nobody said you didn't."

Percy blinked. He'd been talking to himself.

"Nothing, Marcus."

-Ω-

"You're not the only one that's come across something like this today." The sheriff muttered, turning over pictures of the evidence on top of her desk.

Percy leaned forward in his seat. "There's been more?"

"Five separate instances." Sheriff Grayson sighed, the grimace she always wore deepening. "I haven't seen anything of the kind in many years."

Percy frowned. His eyes traveled around the office space. Decorations from wars he couldn't name adorned nearly every surface.

Grayson massaged her temples. For a lady as old as she was, she had surprisingly few wrinkles. "The thugs that run Zaun have gotten too comfortable. These—whatever they are, almost took out you! And others! Some of my best men! Who knows how extensive their networks have grown."

"You know who could be behind this?" Percy asked.

"I'm afraid I can't say for certain." Grayson turned her eyes away from him. "It's been a while since I've been keen to the big players in the Undercity. All I know is that we need to get to the bottom of this quickly, before more civilians are endangered. Can I count on you to assist in the investigation, Jackson?"

Percy nodded.

"Good man." Grayson nodded. She ran a hand through her short hair. "I like you Jackson. I need you to keep in line. We need everybody's undivided attention on this. Now, more than ever. It's time Piltover reminded Zaun who's in charge."

That was kind of weird to say.

Percy stood to leave. It was only when he was walking down the hallway, that he realized he'd forgotten to salute on his way out.

-Ω-

"It was like he was possessed."

Percy found himself in one of Heimerdinger's labs. It reminded him a lot of Leo's Bunker 9. Not an inch spared. Drawing, contraptions everywhere. "It was like he wasn't even human anymore." He finished.

"Experimental compound usage is not uncommon in Zaun." Heimerdinger ruffled his fur as he stood atop a stool. "But you believe this was different?"

Percy nodded. "He couldn't speak. His body didn't move right. He wasn't reacting to pain. His eyes were glowing. There was smoke coming off his skin."

Heimerdinger turned toward something out of sight. "And what are they calling it? Whatever was causing the affliction?"

"Shimmer," Percy said. "Some of the Enforcers are already throwing that name around."

"Shimmer…" Heimerdinger murmured, as if tasting the word. "Creative moniker!"

Percy wandered to one of the professor's blueprints pinned to the wall. A few years ago, he wouldn't have been able to make sense of any of it. But lately, his dyslexia had dulled, his mind steadied. He could focus now. Sometimes.

Heimerdinger noticed his gaze. "Curious?"

"What is it?"

Heimerdinger hopped down and waddled over to where Percy stood. "Diagrams of a dimension-traveling machine. Just a hypothesis, for now."

Percy breathed out. "Dimension traveling…"

"You did say that you wanted to go back home, did you not." Heimerdinger stroked his beard.

"I don't belong here." Percy agreed. "It's just that…"

"Belonging is less about where, and more about what you choose," Heimerdinger interjected. "You've grown a liking to our world, haven't you. I can tell."

Percy picked at something on his hands. "Enforcer presence will be increasing. There's rumors that martial law will be put into effect."

"Troubling indeed. For long we've survived on fragility." Heimerdinger picked up a magnifier, the pupils in his ginormous eyes rounding.

"These new threats…" Percy sighed. "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep pretending I'm just a normal person. My powers—maybe it's time I stop hiding them."

Heimerdinger looked up. "Hmm… a troubling admission. And yet, not an unexpected one."

Percy frowned. "You think I should?"

"That is not what I said," Heimerdinger puffed his lab coat. "You must practice patience. Piltover is a place of order. Your world, from what you've described, seems more accustomed to chaos. Your powers, if known to those here, will cause chaos."

Percy almost smiled. "You're not wrong."

Heimerdinger clasped his paws behind his back and studied him. "Still, there may come a time when one must stop pretending to be ordinary if they are anything but. To deny your abilities any longer, I agree, may do more harm than good if this shimmer threatens to end our peace."

Percy nodded slowly. "I don't know if I'll ever get home. But I can't sit on the sidelines while people are dying. I've seen what happens when people wait too long to act."

A shadow passed through Heimerdinger's eyes. "When you first arrived, you asked me if you'd ever find a way back. I told you the truth as I knew it."

"You said I might not," Percy replied. "But I could still find purpose here."

The old yordle smiled faintly. "Indeed. Purpose is not always where we begin—it is where we choose to stand when the world begins to wobble."

Percy turned back toward the blueprint hanging on the wall.

Heimerdinger rubbed his mustache, thinking. "Temporal displacement, rift tethering, multiversal cohesion—there are many variables I've yet to solve. But… perhaps one day."

Percy tucked Riptide away, "I want to protect this place. Not just Piltover. Zaun too. Both cities matter. Their people, matter."

Powder, mattered.

"You have a good heart, Percy Jackson." Heimerdinger gave what appeared to be a slow, approving nod. "But I advise that we wait, and do what we can without evoking your heritage. I fear what may come as a result from others, once you do."

-Ω-

"I see you."

Percy crouched from where he was at the street. If he squinted hard enough, he could just barely make out the outline of the little girl he'd spotted a couple days ago. Her choppy hair was like stage curtains, concealing parts of her face.

Her big eyes peered back at him.

Percy wanted to believe that somebody was taking care of her. That she had somebody, anybody that gave her a safe place to call home. But his instincts told him otherwise.

It was dark, the streets toward Powder's should've been bustling. Tonight, there was barely anybody. Given the events of earlier, that was no surprise.

Percy thought for a moment. He looked around.

"My name is Percy." He said, loud enough that she'd hopefully hear.

The little girl blinked in response.

"It's not safe out here alone," he said. "There's scary people moving through the city right now."

A pause.

Then, to his surprise, she gave a single, tiny nod.

Percy tilted his head. "You saw them, huh?"

Another nod. This one slower.

If Powder were here, she'd probably know exactly what to say. Something soft, or funny.

"I'm headed toward someone's place. She's nice. She has food." Percy tried not to sound too eager. He was scared if he spoke too fast or loud, she'd bolt. "If you want… you can come with me."

The girl didn't move.

He rubbed the back of his neck, softening his tone as best he could. "I won't make you. But I'd feel a lot better if you weren't out here alone."

Silence.

Then—slowly, carefully—she emerged from the alley's mouth. Just a few steps. Like a feral cat testing if it was safe to come closer.

She didn't say anything. Didn't even nod again.

But she was following him.

That was enough.

Percy gave her a small smile. "Cool. Let's get out of here."

He turned, started walking. After a few beats, he heard the softest footsteps behind him.

She was coming.

And for now, that was all he needed.

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoyed some more plot, and the beginning of a found family :) Feedback is always appreciated!

Going to be going through medical school stuff pretty soon. If you'd like to support me, I made a ko fi under the same username

Be sure to join the discord in my bio as well! I post works early there sometimes before they appear here!

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