The Fall: 34. The Trailblazer's Path

The Trailblazer's Path

The yordles had prepared a small building for them to live and rest after the long escape they had gone through.

-I told you that we're not the first leaving, Shyvana. -calmly said Taric.

-That's not the point Taric! -answered Shyvana, who was clearly nervous.- You tricked us into this!

-There's a reason for it, Shyvana... -said Taric on his typical tone, trying to fade out the rage that had lighted up in the half-dragon's heart.

-Your loneliness! -shouted Shyvana.- Is it the fact that you were not called? -angrily pointed out the Demacian warrior.- You know you're not one of us, Taric!

-Why won't you trust me? -said Taric, with his voice rising in volume and deepening it's tone while his gems glowed like bloodstone.- The Trailblazer has always been around here! We'll find the way back into those days!

-They won't be back, Taric.- said Shyvana, with a lower voice.- You met Zilean long ago, you know how ill he is. What he said cannot be blindly trusted.

-It's not about him. -clarified Taric, his voice calming a little while his shield glowed like a ruby.- It's not about a twisted legend that's thousands of years old, Shyvana...

-Then what's it about? -asked Shyvana, tired of Taric's words.

-Just trust me. You'll see him before Bandle City leaves. The caretaker always comes when he's really needed.

...

They needed a pause. Both Lucian and Yasuo had been following Tahm Kench's orders for long. He was supposed to know where they were going, but Yasuo didn't trust him enough and Lucian didn't even know about Anyssa and Ezreal.

Also, he didn't know how they were faring with their wounds.

...

Nothing but pain.

His arm was aching as it had never been. Jayce was supposed to have fixed the artifact, such a reaction from a hit was not expected. What had that monster used? What weapon was he wielding? It had shone as nothing Ezreal had seen before. And Ezreal, the prodigal explorer, had seen quite a lot of things.

It reminded him of the stones he had seen at the Shuriman tombs; painted in the walls, it looked like those stones had been used to keep something out. The question is; what?

...

An obsidian blade. LeBlanc had not expected an obsidian blade. She hadn't even expected the attack, but if it had been a normal beast she could have simply dashed out of its range and stop him. But, why was she alive?

Usually, an obsidian blade would have killed her in the instant that it got to pierce her skin. She could feel the pain of it, but she couldn't tell where her wounds were. She was simply aching, her whole body in pain and paralyzed.

Still, if hat was the case, someone had stopped the monster from getting to her.

Someone was foolish enough to try to save her, and she loved every detail of it.

...

Hecarim and his army reached him hours after he had finished with the last remnants of Xin Zhao, and after him came Kalista, Mordekaiser, Karthus and more.

It had been difficult for Thresh to convince them all of joining him; most of them had had some highs and lows between themselves during the last hundreds of years, but when Thresh made a call of this type they were all eager to follow.

-To the Kumungu jungle, Hecarim. -said Thresh.

Without an answer, the Shadow of War marched. He had been needed to guide the rest; now he left, since Hecarim had never liked Thresh's tricks. No one liked to fool around with Thresh's lantern.

...

When LeBlanc started to feel better, Tahm Kench explained it all to her.

Rengar was the name of the beast that had attacked them; he had never lived in a place so close to where they were by then, but someone had invited him to make a stop by her. Darkwill had given the beast the idea.

-Do you really think I don't know how he got the Obsidian blade? -said LeBlanc, still aching a bit but now able to hold herself on her feet.- Answer my question, you demon.

-You may only have a slight hint, but you can never know something you didn't witness. -answered Tahm Kench, clearly mocking LeBlanc.

The Fall: 24. Rewinding

Rewinding

Jayce was amazed by the miraculaous invention he had been given; it had taken quite a lot of time, and because of him working on Ezreal's artifact he had left it aside. If he had only known what this was before starting to work on it...

"Fix it." had said Vi. Jayce didn't know what it was or who owned it, but Vi's orders were clear. She would never get used to him being Piltover's Major, but he never cared about it. But the mystery surrounding the techmaturgical invention that he had been working at for some days still haunted him. Even when sleeping he'd be dreaming about that thing they had rescued from Zaun. And that made him think of Zaun in a different way.

What if they had cooperated? What if Zaun and Piltover had worked together for a better world? What if they had ended, not only with Viktor, Dr. Mundo and similars, but with a lot of other scientists that were hidden geniuses in the sea of crime and lack of ethics Zaun had been?

That's how he got tired of waiting. He needed to know what was the name of the artifact; he needed to meet the genius that had invented it.

...

-Calm enough to come now kid? -asked Vi.

-Sure. -answered Ekko, spitting on the floor.

Vi opened the cell's door and untied Ekko's hands with a swift move.

-Don't you dare trick me Ekko. -pointed out Vi.- I already know most of your moves.

That sentence hit him deeply in the heart. 'She remembers.' thought Ekko. Vi had not forgotten them. What might she remember? What had she gone through to end up that way? Would she help her get Zaun back to its deserved glory?

-Vi... may I ask you something? -asked Ekko.

-You mean asking me one more thing? -said Vi.

-What happened Vi?

-I can't remember a single detail. -answered Vi.

-Don't you know who I am?

-Of course I do. I remember my past. -said Vi, clearly annoyed.- What I can't remember are the days after the accident.

The Fall: 23. Iterations

Iterations

Mine, None and the Children were together once again, but not in the way they had wanted the meeting to be. Mine's body had been torn apart, her head crushed by None who had walked onto it without even caring while tearing down the children. And there was nothing he could do.

Ekko needed to fix the Z-Drive and know how Mine and the children had reached him. He had to stop them from coming. Yes, it would all be fixed. But he would have to go through that scene way too many times. Some people can't think of something worst than losing their loved ones. Well, most of them have never lost anyone more than once; that was why they didn't understand the horrors that Ekko had been through; the ones he was about to face. He would try with six minutes first.

...

Ekko stopped once he heard those voices.

-The shimmer didn't work as expected Singed. -he could hear Viktor say.- These beasts couldn't stop an organized army like the on of Piltover.

They had to be close; where were Vi and the oher Piltie? The pair had come from the same street than him, entering once he had backed up after facing Viktor. He looked at the street he had been running through; there was nothing in front of him. He was still looking for something when a wall close to him bursted.

-BOOM, BABY! -shouted Vi.

Again, dust covered everything. Now he knew where Vi came from. Her friend had to be close but, where were the children? When the dust faded out he saw Vi holding Viktor up in the air. Ekko still found it strange that she didn't recognize who he was. Didn't she?

-What are you waiting for? Singed won't take long to wake up, finish this now Jayce. -said Vi.

So that was the name of the man with a scared look on his face. The face of a man about to do something he doesn't want to. His cannon transformed into a hammer while Jayce prepared himself for the hit while walking towards them. And then Viktor died. It took him some seconds to remeber about singed, but once he did he already knew what to do.

Ekko dashed through the dust cloud remebering where Singed would be. A flask flew towards him, but he expected something from there. A quick slash and everything would be easily solvable. But then he realized that the air was heavier after every breath he took; it had to be Singed's poison. He would have to start again. The Z-drive's light illuminated the last few seconds of that possible outcome.

...

Heavily breathing, Ekko doubted if that was the right moment to appear.

-What are you waiting for? Singed won't take long to wake up, finish this now Jayce. -said Vi.

He had to stop the dust-cloud from foring in order to be able to chase Singed. He still remembered VIII's words when they were younger; "Never chase Singed." he had said. "He will only lead you to your demise.". In the instant that he heard Jayce's hammer hit Viktor's hex-core he activated the Z-drive's converger; now Jayce, Viktor and Vi would be affecting a parallel timeline for a while.

The activation of the Z-drive's phaser was enough for him to get to Singed; a quick slash took the flask out of his hand and a second one locked the poison dispenser; there was no way it could go wrong now.

But Singed's eyes shined specially bright; his insane look was cleaving through Ekko's mind while the scientist's right hand crushed a small empty bottle. The mad chemist started to run through a corridor that seconds before hadn't been there; Mine. ashamed, was hiding after what had been a secret door. When Singed was passing through it he flinged her, falling onto Ekko and breaking into little pieces the recently fixed Z-drive.

There was no time for words, and there was no way of getting some of it. Mine's tears fell one by one onto Ekko's right hand, which was resting in the floor under her friend's body. He wanted to tell her that he would forgive her, Ekko knew there had to be an explanation for that. But they never got to talk again.

None grabbed Mine and rose her up, destroying the building by crashing her body against every stone at his reach. Now it was Mine's blood that covered Ekko's hands. His hands, those who had failed to protect their loved ones; not once, but thrice.

And hands were the last thing that Ekko saw. A pair of huge mechanical hands that were carrying him away of the place while he fell unconscious.

The Fall: 22. Echoes

Echoes

-Fancy meeting the boss, kid? -said the woman that had once been his childhood friend with an irritating tone.

-Sure, I guess that you Pilties can't get a job done without that overseer's hand telling you to do so. -said Ekko again.

Just as he expected, his face was punched into the wall. He had already gone through this way too many times. Always trying to find a way to fix what had happened in Zaun.

...

The city was a living chaos, now more than ever.

Viktor had died, but the Pilties hadn't had enough. They would raze the whole place, and the kids would go down with it. That is, unless he did something.

Of the original twelve, only three remained; but while the years passed by, a place like Zaun always gave birth to more orphans and those scared children always needed their help. Ekko and Mine had been bringing the orphans from Zaun in turns, always taking care of them while living hidden in the outskirts of Piltover. None was the one in charge of finding them out and contacting both Ekko and Mine, but that ended with the last few battles.

The sky looked different the day they received None's last letter.

...

From I,

IX and XII, XXXI and XXXIV are bringing you my last piece of writing.

Chaos reigns in Zaun; Viktor has manipulated the government itself and we're being forced into the military. Every single soul is forced into it; women, children, even the elders. It is said that Singed's latest modification of Shimmer is being tested on those who don't look strong enough to fight. I guess that you understand why this will surely be my last letter for you, friends.

Don't forget what we've been fighting for. This is not the Zaun we praised, Viktor is not the herald that was supposed to make our lives better. The corruption that has taken control of our homeland does not represent the lifestyle we defend. That's why I need to ask you one last thing.

Keep Zaun alive. This war is already lost, Zaun has self-destructed itself and ruined its own roots. Broken-hearted, I can only tell you to let this place fall, and bring Zaun to Piltover. Teach our ways to those Pilties, make them realize that we were right. Show them that we're not their enemies, but their rivals instead. The children you're taking care of are the future of Zaun, make sure that you don't forget that.

With best regards,

None

...

His footspets echoed thorugh the empty streets of Zaun. Ekko ran as fast as he had ever done it, rushing through corpses and ruins. Not even then he realized what None had meant; Zaun had already killed itself, but that meant nothing to Ekko. The mural, their hideout, their past. The place where the original twelve had met for the first time. I's ability to be ignored when he wanted to go unnoticed, II's handcrafting techniques concerning techmaturgy, III's thirst for vengeance, IV's lack of purpose, V's way of being trusted by everyone, VI's irritating voice, VII's innocence and goggles, VIII's illness,  IX's egoism and self-centered hate, X's pigtails, XI's plan. He was XII. He was the one with the dream.

And that dream had't died out, not even after being witness of what was happening to their homeland. While running he started to hear voices; loud as they were, it was difficult to understand them. Still, he managed to notice Viktor's tone on that voice. The one to blame's words were as irritating as they had been the day that half the crew was lost. Back when Viktor was known as VIII, he had been the one to force them back, leaving II, III, V, VI and VII to rot down in Zaun's underground mazes. And he was now the one that would let the rest of them dying for a cause that no one defended but him.

-The shimmer didn't work as expected Singed. -he could hear Viktor say.- These beasts couldn't stop an organized army like the on of Piltover.

-Did you really expect them to do so? -asked Singed.- I already told you that the only thing they'd bring would be chaos.

-You should have explained yourself better.

-I already explaioned myself better when we tried it out with your old orphan friend, and here you have the results.

Only then Ekko realized; the screams of agony, mixed with moans and deep groans that could be heard over their conversation. He needed to know what had happened to None; with nothing to stop him from doing so, he slightly moved towards the alley. Once he saw what was there, he wished he had never left None alone at Zaun.

-This guy and Dr. Mundo's experiments are nearly the same. -said Singed while his finger pointed towards None's last remnants.

-Whatever, leave them to rot now. -ordered Viktor.- We'll get to the old lab, subjects III and VII are our only hopes in this war. I'll tell Twice that we're on our way, You'd better get going.

-What should we do about him? -asked Singed, feeling bad for what had been a poor, scared boy.

-Free him. He'll be a decent distraction.

In a split second, Ekko was in front of Viktor. Half an instant before that, Ekko was back at his position. It had been less than a second, but he had stared at his face. Had he noticed? What had he meant with "subjects III and VII"? Ekko couldn't tell. And he didn't have time to find out.

-BOOM, BABY! -shouted an irritating female voice from the darks.

Suddenly, dust covered everything. He could feel the presence of two more people around, and the consumed energy could be felt in the air. The voice had been familiar to him, but he couldn't tell only by that.

-Got him Jayce! -shouted the same voice again.

Then he realized. It was VI.

When the dust faded out he saw them both. VI was holding Viktor up in the air with a single hand, her gauntlet covering all of the Viktor's trunk. Does she realize who he was?

-What are you waiting for? -asked VI to her companion. -Singed won't take long to wake up, finish this now Jayce.

The man had a scary look on his face. Ekko knew that VI's companion found no pleasure in doing what he was going to do, but the boy could see in that man's eyes that he knew he had to. Shocked, he witnessed how his cannon suddenly transformed into a hammer, and the man accomodated it in his hands for it to fit a correct position. And then VI's companion smashed Viktor while she held him up.

Another cloud of dust rose, and this one took longer to fade out; when it did, nearly nothing had changed. VI's body was laying in the floor near a wall, but she was fine. Her gauntlets had small remains of blood and flesh, and the place was covered with the remnants of what had once been a half-human half-machine person. 'Rest in piece, VIII.' thought Ekko. It took him long to realize what was truly happenind. Singed had covered it all with some kind of adhesive, and both VI and her Piltie friend were stuck on it.

-Are you Ok Vi? -asked the man, unable to see her because they were stuck in opposite directions.

-I always am boss! -answered VI.

Had she kept her name? If so, did she remember anything at all about their shared past?

A falling wall caught Ekko's attention. None's moans were louder than ever, and the stones that had once held him back were now falling to pieces. One of them fell infront of him, and only then he realized where he was; he had failed to defend the mural. Luckily, he always had another chance. He was called Ekko for a reason.

But luck was not with him that day. His Z-drive had been hit by a piece of the mural, making it useless. He had failed to defend those he had loved, and he had failed to keep their memorial through the years. Then he heard the screams.

Vi's ally was shouting the void out in pain while what had once been None was crushing his arm. The hammer, probably pulverized by the hulk that None now was, was nowhere to be seen. But Vi was still fine.

Avoiding the zones where Singed's adhesive covered the floor, Ekko got to Vi and freed her without a word. He carried her towards the inner side of the mural, what had once been their home, and walked towards None. That was when he saw Mine with the children and he realized that he had fucked it all up.

A scream drowned in chaos while Zaun  burned down to ashes.







_________________________________________________________________________________
Special thanks to /u/Xecelee and his post in Reddit's /r/leagueoflegends for making my investigation job about Ekko way easier than it would have been.

The Fall: 19. What the void is she looking for?

What the void is she looking for?

Jayce didn't really know why they had left in such a hurry; in a day where the whole Piltover celebrated, he had worked way too much. The girl, Anyssa, had asked him for a guide; the reason was a long trip around Runeterra searching for a family relic, or something like that. But Jayce knew when he was being lied to, and that had been one of the countless times that he had let the lie pass by. "Ezreal is your man." said Jayce. If Ezreal worked with her, Jayce would end up knowing what she was really looking for.

After some hours, he received a call from the Prodigal Explorer; he wanted to know when would his artifact be ready to use.

...

LeBlanc had seen it in Darkwill's eyes. Whatever he was planning, it was no good, and the Black Mist at Bilgewater had to be a part of his plan; it made no sense that they sieged the city only some lunar cycles after the last attack, they usually took a year or two between every wave. But he had also felt fear in his eyes. 'Sweet Elliot...' thought LeBlanc. Not even Darkwill was able to predict what his own plans would end up being.

The girl that everyone saw as Anyssa already knew who se had to talk to. The Prodigal Explorer was the man she needed; no other former warrior knew the various places of Runeterra as well as him, and there was no other viable option because of the time it would take to get them ready; not even Sivir would have everything ready for that very same night, even when granted half the gold of Runeterra. She had to be thankful that Jayce had accepted to receive her at his office in such a special day where everyone was in the demonstrations and other events; the major didn't lack any work that day, and he still found out how to plan a meeting.

Once she got into his office, LaBlanc saw what Jayce truly was; nothing more than a former hero of war, that was now a crippled leader. Nothing but a shadow of its former self.

...

She had Lux eyes, and her hair's colour was exactly the same. Anyssa didn't really resemble Lux, but those two thing were identical; after some thinking, that was enough to get him into the job, even though usually he wouldn't have even thought about taking accepting the meeting in a day like that one. Still, the similarities with Lux and the secretism of the youg woman had been enough to make his interest be strong enough to take over his sleepyness. He did not remember having worked any other day in his life when concerning this day.

The little girl's job had sounded more like an order at first, but once they got to know a little bit of each other's intentions the conversation went on smoothly. In the end, he would be paid hundreds of thousands just for accompanying her, no matter if they suceeded or not. If they did find what she was looking for, she would double up the amount. Looked like a good deal, and that was why he would have avoided it. Good deals didn't exist in his job; those who offered a good pay were usually liars or thiefs. But the curiosity killed the cat.

The main question that occupied his head was; what the void was she looking for?

The Fall: 9. The Prodigal Explorer

The Prodigal Explorer

Artifacts like that one had always marvelled him. Solving puzzles that for hundreds of years had remained secret was the kind of challenge that made him feel as alive as he was before the war. No one would never know how much both of them had been through; why Jayce was sitting there, in front of a desk, full of sketches and machines whose functioning wouldn't be understood by most people. was a mystery even to himself. There had been a lot of variables and coincidences that had made Jayce become what he was; where he was born, who were his parents, how he had been raised, his early work as a child guided by Professor Kozim... He as a person was no more than the result of a never-ending pile of coincidences that had luckily happenned one after the other. And the same was appliable to that artifact that he was now trying to understand; why had it been created? who did it, and what was its purpose? how did it survive all this time without the need of a fix until now? why had Ezreal found it and why had he trusted him to repair his artifact? If the answer to one of those questions had been different, he might have never seen a creation like the one he was observing right now. If some deatil of his life had been different, he might have never even had the chance to end up working with such a precious invention.

No matter what people said, luck was always a huge factor. He knew about a lot that would point the Gods as the ones responsible for their own success or failure; others would think that they were in full control of whatever happenned in their lives, owing nothing to no one. But he knew they were wrong. There was always a huge random factor, because for something to happen you need an infinity of other events to go in a specific way, and the possibility of one of them depending on pure luck is as never-ending as the steps needed for the main event to be possible.

But those thoughts were not gonna fix it. Ezreal needed his weapon, and he needed it now. Anyssa Elestar had been very clear when pointing out that she wanted the so-called prodigal explorer to lead her team on her journey to wherever she had pointed in that map. She talked about buried history, secrets untold that were ages old and the truth about the fall of the old empires.

Usually, Ezreal would have denied the job. A little girl giving orders the very minute she came looking for him that would not accept a "No." as answer... Jayce knew that his friend had never been fond of such people. But the very moment that she mentioned Shurima his eyes started to glow, and without a word he signed the contract.

That was how Jayce was now back at the laboratory instead of working at his office. No sleeping, nearly no eating and feeling dehydrated from time to time, he preferred the restless work of the inventor than the comfortable chair that awaited him on the major's chamber. He was enjoying every single moment of this work, the last one before his laboratory was annexed to Piltover's Techmaturgy Museum. Working with the Shuriman artifact that had raised Ezreal to glory was not a bad way to end his scientific career, even though it made him sad to know that this was the last permission he would get from the council to abandon his responsibilities.

Suddenly he started to feel how a sharp pain in his stump. He pulled it away from the desk, noticing he had burnt a bit of it. That accident brought him back to the desk where he was working. 'Focus, Jayce. It's your last job here, you better do it right.' thought before getting back to work.

...

It had been a long time since he lost her, but Ezreal still felt as if everything had happenned the day before. Countless heroes had lost their lives at that last battle against Noxus; they had underestimated their strength, basing their strategy solely in the numerical superiority of the Trinity army that counted with people from all around Runeterra. Year of Noxian repression had given a reason for a lot of regions to rise against them during those hard times; Demacia, Ionia and Piltover stood out as the three major components of the army, and he was part of the infiltration squad lead by Quinn.

Every night he dreamed of the day he woke up at Lux's side. It all happenned the same way it had been that day. Her bright smile, one that would even be able to light the fog of war, her golden hair and her blue eyes reflecting everything he felt.

-Be careful Ez. -she said before leaving the tent- We'll meet here tonight, and I don't want you to come harmed.

-Don't worry, ours will be no more than a reconnaissance mission today. -he said before kissing her lightly.- You won't get rid of me yet.

As Lux said, they met later on the night.

The Fall 4. Unchaining the Warden.

Unchaining the Warden

LeBlanc woke up with a horrible headache that wouldn't even let her walk out of the bed; the transition from one life to another never felt good, but Anyssa was being more aggressive than most had been.

Once her mind and memories got used to the new life, she started to dress up slowly, admiring what had once been Anyssa's body. Young curves, firm breasts, long blonde curly hair, a beaufitul smile and a perfect set of charming blue eyes; she had definitely made the right choice.

After getting back into her mind and dressing up, LeBlanc went straight to the catacombs; she needed to leave Noxus before Darkwill noticed what she had done, and Thresh was her only escape. After so many years, the moment had arrived; the Chain Warden would finally break free and she would be able to start a new life at Piltover. Anyssa had prepared everything in the city of progress, and she would have plenty of time to get everything going. ¿How many sould would Thresh take before leaving Noxus? She would definitely hear about it, but she would do it from the safety of the house that waited her on Piltover.

After a fast paced walk trough the Noxian catacombs and the several cells it contained, prisoners being more dangerous step after step, she finally got to the Chain Warden. He was laughing hard, but there was nothing to worry; she was the only one that knew how to get through the frozen doors of the end of the corridor; she was the only one that had a soul cold enough to survive such a hostile place.

-¡LeBlanc! ¡Oh, LeBlanc, you murderer! ¡Hahahahaha!-shouted the chain warden.-¡You really got me there! ¡I had never seen a trick like that! ¡Hahahahaha!

-There are a lot of things you have not seen yet, Thresh...-whispered LeBlanc to herself. His laugh was disgusting, and it echoed through the cold rooms that made up the monster's cell.-You laugh like a madman, did you know that?-said LeBlanc, hoping that he would stop: she was wrong.

-¡Hahahaha!-laughed the chain warden again. -Mad? Me? Haha... quite likely. But that doesn't make that trick of yours less curious.

-It is not a trick, you already know what I am.

-If it's tricky, it's a trick, no matter what you say. -he grabbed the lantern and shook it a bit, for later pointing out a corpse that laid on the floor. -Here she is and there you are, Ziraeth. Truth be told, I did not expect you to do it this way, I never really expect to see an elvesham with my own eyes. I have no strength to fight you, I really struggled to make her suffer. Well, you... hahaha. You know what I mean. Would you like to greet her?. -said Thresh before starting to laugh even louder than before.

-You know what I came for, warden. Do your job and you shall have your freedom. -announced LeBlanc with a firm voice that got to stop Thresh's frantic laugh.

-You mean that if I get you there I'll get to fool around your beloved Noxus? 

...

His life had suffered a radical change.

The hero he once had been was a thing of the past, nothing but history now. The Zaun incident had changed the life of Piltover as a whole; lacking an actual enemy, they finally got to leave peacefully. Still, the mere thought of what had happenned was enough to darken the citizen's hearts. It was difficult to find someone around Piltover who hadn't lost a friend, a brother or a son at war, and he was the one to blame.

He felt guilty, yet people only praised him as the hero they thought he was: the man that had brought peace to them shined bright enough to leave the shadow of the war behind; most people blamed themselves for being slow, for being weak, or just for not being there to hear the last words of someone they had loved. But he knew who was the only one to blame. And he would pay for it, one-handed or not.

Refusing to become what he had once fought, Jayce always carried the burden of what he had done; a horrible stump occupied the place where his right hand used to be. Unable to fight crippled, he donated the Mercury Hammer to Piltover's Techmaturgy Museum and started his political carrier.
That is how he became Piltover's mayor. Fearing the future more than ever, Jayce started his new adventure by sitting on his chair. What was about to come? No one could tell.