5

Chapter Thirteen

We finished the activation tests, and had lunch, leading me to the conclusion that I was going to have to brown bag it from now on, as the university's food was terrible, and I had a feeling ordering out, in addition to being a hassle, what with delivery people not being allowed into restricted areas, would still fall far below my own standards. They were magically enhanced standards, as I was well aware that I'd managed to spoil myself even with Faerie Feast turned down a notch or twelve, but it'd be worth it for a sandwich that'd hadn't merely been wafted over the concept of flavor instead of actually possessing it.

Regardless, we'd set everything up, opened all of the windows, secured all of our notes and everything else that could very easily be blown about. I'd leaned out the door and yelled at a passerby to go warn Heimerdinger that we were going to be setting off explosions, and the teenage boy had frozen, unsure, before, a command to "Go!" sent him running.

The Protomatrix was set up, the base clamped to the table, and the activation pattern written out on a secured blackboard.

It was time to rock.

The crystal activation went off without a hitch, and I took a deep breath, nodding to Viktor, and putting my hand on the dial, twisting it into the 'all on' position. The rune-carved metal panels of the proto-matrix were set to spinning, their relative motion to the activated hexite core attracting and charging them with Mana, just as the larger cage spun about to activate the crystal in the first place. However, these didn't merely spin the energy up, but prepared themselves to release their charge in one burst the moment they stopped, shaping the mana through the medium of the Runes in order to cast the first stage of the 'teleport' spell, one Jayce, and thus I, remembered all too well.

Rising up into the middle of the Proto-Matrix, thick strands of mana-lightning arced down from hexite crystal, infusing the device, as the energy contained within built, and built, and built.

Letting out a long breath, I grit my teeth, hand on the dial, and began.

Rushing this would cause the entire thing to destabilize, I knew intellectually, and with the benefit of pseudo-foresight. The Mage, likely Ryze, had paused between each Rune he'd cast, but that hadn't been for affect, but to let them set, each rune a stanza of the poem of the spell. Starting with the first rune in the sequence, I forced myself to wait a beat, before moving to the next, doing all I could to recall the original casting, the memory of that day superimposed over my own vision.

The next rune was set, and the jagged, formless polygons made of dotted lines of light twisted and warped, flattening and spinning into rings, the hexite like a miniature planet, though the rings were not stable in the slightest.

Flicking the next rune into place, my breath caught as the rings shattered, a new set of lights emerged, and these ones I recognized.

They were wild-formed runes.

The kind that oft appeared, seemingly of their own volition, when mages cast spells. Some of them, like the jagged N of Shift-Break-Jump-Bypass, or the triangle with an extra bit on the top which denoted Weave-Spin-Redirect-Lock were contained within my notes, but others, like what looked similar to an A, but the bottom legs reached in like pincers, or one that looked kind of like a Futhark Mannaz rune, but the top seemed to have been collapsed into itself, I'd never seen before in my life.

More than that, they kept jumping and shifting, the Runes, the expressions of Mana not set, warping and twisting in a way that reminded me of my eye exams, in my old body, when I'd needed glasses, where I'd strain to perceive what was at the edge of my vision, hyper-focusing but unable to determine the letters, what appeared to be an M turning to N turning to H turning to K but unable to be fully seen.

I wanted to just sit and study them, but, while the first step had a bit of wiggle room in its timing, the energy was starting to build again, and I had to keep going.

Activating the next in sequence, the band of Runes broke apart, the activation scattering them even as more rings formed from dots of light that expanded outwards in ever increasingly complex patterns, forming vague magical circles and arrays that started to dissipate as soon as they were brought into being. Matching the timing I remembered, I moved to the next one just as the current one faded, one after another, until, with a sense of finality, I clicked the last rune into place, the carved out metal of the rune panel not appearing to be empty air, but now filled with solid glowing blue light.

The floating wild-formed runes were seemingly sucked into the hexite, before a new ring formed, these stable, and unchanging, and, with a metallic ping, a spherical field of Mana formed. Then with a sound like a muted bomb blast, the Mana exploded upwards, small specs of it flying in every direction, but the majority of it formed a double-layered magical array, runes set and secure with respect to the circle as if they were carved from stone instead of resting on nothing but air.

Gravity gave way, and I started to float upwards, as did Viktor, as more spherical energy fields seemed to coalesce from nothing at all, sucked into the hexite with the same sound of an explosion, only in reverse, energy concentrating before it poured forth in a torrent of light with a deep, almost horn-like sound.

When the light faded, we were both floating, the hexite crystal now the center of a spherical, if uneven, energy field, rings of light crisscrossing its translucent surface, as we both floated up next to it, two dozen feet in the air. Smaller rings of light spun about the crystal itself, but unevenly, with highly elliptical orbits, like the path a comet might take as it entered and exited a solar system.

Next to me, Viktor giggled, a boyish, enraptured sound that elicited one from me as well, because, with hundreds of motes of Mana floating in the air, like tiny blue fireflies, or like the night's sky made manifest, there was something... magical about it all. Pulling a coin from my pocket, I set it slowly spinning toward the core.

Passing through the outer layer, it started to be charged with mana, seeming almost to glitch as it was teleported to the side slightly, before drawn into the shining hexite and pushed through the other side in a second, sparking with mana-lightning but slowing to match the same speed I'd pushed it in at.

"This is amazing," Viktor gushed, delighted, and I had to agree, even as I stared at the 'spell', trying to mentally disassemble it.

It was the teleportation spell, that Jayce had seen so long ago, but it was one with the same exit-point as its entry-point. Ryze had taken the spell and, through means I knew not, but almost certainly had to do with what made a Mage a Mage, was able to modify it to take my mother and I from that frozen mountaintop and place us upon a flowery field leagues away.

Jayce remembered that moment, honestly like something out of A Space Odyssey, dimensional barriers, ones lined with runes, flying by on either direction, or more likely they had been still while he had been moving, along with my mother and the Mage, for a moment seeing all of Runeterra, before it'd been too much and he'd, I'd, passed out, changed from our journey in ways we didn't yet understand.

So we had made the first step, activating the same kind of crystal Ryze had, without the ability to manipulate Mana directly. We'd made it to the second step, casting the first portion of the spell, the Opening of the Gate. The next step, turning that doorway into a tunnel was something I knew was possible, but had no idea how to accomplish.

Yet.

But I wouldn't do that floating around. The air was still, well, air, a bit more than air actually, given how thick the Mana was, so by focusing on moving and by making swimming motions, I reached the ceiling, awkwardly spinning about to push off from it, heading back down, where the tables, thankfully, were thick, heavy, or massive enough that they hadn't been rendered weightless like we had.

It was a bit difficult, moving in zero-g a skill that had to be learned, as all the monkey-brain instincts went right out the window as soon as we couldn't stand on, float on, or swing from something. Moving to one of the shelves, I pulled out two lengths of rope, tying the end of one to a table leg, the other around my waist, and then carefully maneuvered, effectively tossing myself forward, to another table on the other side of the room, anchoring one end of the second rope to it.

"Need some help getting down?" I called up at Viktor, who was now completely flipped around, and slowly spinning.

"If you wouldn't mind," he cheekily replied, and I rolled my eyes, gently tossing the rope his way. The other man caught it, and used it to walk himself back.

I was going to let him, when I saw the end start to drift towards the hexite still floating in the air. Grabbing the bit of rope near me, I gave it a sharp tug, dragging it, and Viktor, towards me, catching the man as I held myself in place, one foot on top of a table, the other underneath it, pressing upwards and downwards simultaneously to make a pseudo-clamp.

The scientist looked confused, until he turned around, and saw the bit of hemp floating just out of reach of the energy field. "Oh. I wonder, if it had touched, would it have dragged me through, along with the anchor?"

"How about we try that with inanimate objects, the first dozen or so times at least, and then graduate to lab-rats before lab-partners," I suggested, with just a little bit of reproach in my tone.

Viktor considered that, nodding as he pulled the rope in, letting my grip on his shirt stabilize him, tying it around his waist the same way I had. "I suppose if we have to be careful," he offered with a sly smile. "As that appears to be your job. I suppose that leaves me to be the visionary genius?" he teased, though there was an odd undercurrent to his comment that I couldn't place, as he kept his eyes on me, even though he was partially turned away.

"Eh, that sounds boring," I sighed. "Let's switch off. Monday, when we show the Council this, I can be the mad inventor that walks the line of what's safe and what's possible, while you're the safety-conscious authority figure. Deal?"

"Deal," he nodded, shoulders slumping slightly in relief for some reason. "But, what about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow I'm healing," I stated with vehemence. "I'd be surprised if anyone saw me, as I plan to spend the entire day in bed. Got to say, kind of liking the zero-g effect, but it's gonna suck as soon as that drops."

"Zero... ah, zero gravity," he nodded. Getting his feet under him, I let go of the crippled man, and he pushed off of the ground, gliding over the tables. "I must admit," he called over his shoulder, trying not to grin, and failing, "this holds a certain appeal."

Seeing the crippled man's delight, I made a mental note to look into a way to replicate the effect. We'd have to stabilize the hexite crystals before it could be wearable gear, unless...

I'm going to have to take apart this spell into its component functions, and rework it to make the effect I want, I realized. Remaking the Hexgate was priority one, as it'd help pay for everything else, but, if I managed to pull off Plan M, it wouldn't be the two of us working on this, it'd be the four of us, which would let us split up experiments and projects.

Originally, Jayce and Viktor had made Vi's gauntlets in order to 'help make mining easier', and a man-portable laser claw to assist in construction, which just showed a... shockingly naïve understanding of how society adapted to new technologies. Creating more efficient mining tech wouldn't make the lower class richer, it'd just mean that the industrial bottleneck wouldn't be personnel, but some other factor, which would mean layoffs would be incoming, increasing joblessness, poverty, and unrest.

Now, in a fair system that would naturally be accounted for, the newly freed source of labor then pulled into new jobs and new directions, ultimately creating more wealth and prosperity after a bit of a growing period that could be managed with some guideline policies and general assistance, micromanaging things 'better' usually more hindrance than help, especially when it came to emergent industries. It'd take a couple years, but things would resettle into a new, better Status Quo, just in time for the next development to once more unbalance things, but the system would gain in strength and the quality of life would rise with each assimilated development.

But Piltover/Zaun was not a fair system.

The fact that a good deal of Piltover's income came from outside sources, through trade and ships passing through the Sun-Gate, created societal pressures that encouraged a 'screw you, got mine' attitude on both sides of the bridge, both groups isolated enough that they could make decisions that hurt the other without care.

Well, not completely without care. If Piltover screwed over Zaun, Zaun had to take it, but if Zaun dared try and return the favor, the jackboots of the enforcers would stomp them down into compliance. There were some Piltovans with morals, but they were in the minority, any kind of elite responsibility to the masses, a la noblesse obliges, absent as far as Jayce was aware.

Worse, that prejudice ran deep, especially as the two systems worked in almost parallel economies, which meant that Mrs. Kiramman could go weeks without seeing someone from Zaun, months without having to talk to them, and years without having to deal with them fairly, something not helped by the Zaunite's tendency to screw over anyone that wasn't them, and sometimes even with smaller subgroups infighting, almost tribal in nature, which just created a self-perpetuating discrimination cycle.

Whoever started it didn't matter at this point, even though I was almost certain it was Piltover, the tensions between the two cities so high, with one in such a position of hyper-dominance that most people had forgotten that the 'Undercity' originally had its own name, that it would be hard to maintain the system for long. And, by the civil war that'd been fought a handful of years ago, though the Piltoverians called it an 'uprising' to keep the narrative going, all present had been shown that it was not a stable system, yet did nothing to try and improve it.

In a stable system there'd be some grumbling when paradigm shifting tech was introduced, some growing pains, but faith in society would keep the worst of the ill-feelings down, and the ensuing prosperity would help soothe rising tensions. But when the money flowed almost all one way, except for what little the Zaunites could beg, borrow, or steal, with no faith that things would get better... well, when denied the ability to improve their lives fairly, even good men turned to crime, and violence. And, when they did so, the tools they used would be repurposed for darker ends.

Vander's gauntlets were, first and foremost, mining tools, though I didn't know their exact use, something to do with naturally forming crystals. It was those that he'd incorporated into his fighting style, to deadly effect. Similarly, Violet, had she grown up as she originally would have, would use the 'mining' gauntlets that Jayce had created to fight on par with the heroes of this world, wielding swords, guns, and magic.

And Viktor's creation, a medium-range cutting laser? The better question was what you couldn't do with that, because if it cut through steel like butter, what would it do to people.

It was ironic, that the two men, despite abhorring the thought of creating hextech weapons, were damn good at it.

No, the Hexgate was a must, but beyond that, perhaps it wasn't tools that should be my focus, but emplacements. Though, I had to figure out this entire 'hextech' thing first, and that started with understanding the pseudo-singularity in the air above me.

"So," I called to Viktor, who was examining it from all angles, a pad and pen in hand, his rope wrapped around his chest several times to make it so short he wouldn't drift into the core's field by accident, "Any idea how to turn it off?"

My partner glanced down at me with a broad smile, and replied, "Not in the slightest! Isn't it wonderful?"

Nodding, I had to admit, it kind of was.

​

It took a solid hour to figure out that the gate had a 'use' limit, the size of the outer sphere of energy decreasing slowly as it transitioned more and more mass through it, until, with Viktor safe on the ground, I tossed enough things through the energy field that it finally gave out, not all at once like I'd worried, but slowly, gravity gradually reasserting itself.

The hexite was, for lack of a better term, 'depleted', no longer glowing or crackling with sparks of Mana if you moved it too fast, but glints of light could still be seen within, and it would be the topic of a different branch of study in the future.

During this time, between tests, Heimerdinger had arrived, again, stared, given us more commands to 'be careful', again, and left, without closing the damn door, again, several senior staff of the Academy peering in before I smiled tiredly, told them this was an active testing site, and closed it in their faces.

We did another round of experimentation, discovering limiting factors, like how putting something long in could go weird as it was transported, in its entirety, to the other side, though in a much less destructive manner than I'd feared. Setting up a pseudo-target, a couple floating rods in the 'exit' zone, the both of us taking cover after I sent a long, winding rope through, the process didn't fuse the transported item to that which was in the way, nor was there any kind of 'portal cut' phenomenon, going either way, but in actuality the iron bars and rope were both nudged aside, repositioned gently, to avoid problems.

What that would do to larger items, that could not be easily moved, would be a test for next week.

When the second 'Zero-Gate' finally gave out, the depleted hexite crystal caught and stored, I barely had to play up my fatigue, and the pain I was in, as the full weight of my body pressed down on my wounds, for Viktor to, regretfully, tell me to go home and get some rest. After a token bit of resistance, and getting the other man to promise not to activate the cores on the weekend while I was gone, I was free, and slowly made my way back Home, ducking into an alley between the Academy and my mother's house to open a portal and stagger inside.

I'd barely made it halfway up the stairs when Powder came flying down them with a joyful call of, "You're back!"

Bracing, I caught her leaping hug, not able to clamp down on my gasp of pain as she hit my injuries, her happy expression freezing, shifting to guilt and concern as I set her down. "Still healing," I told her raspily, the shooting agony making me a little shaky, but that's why God, or more specifically R&D, invented railings and installed them in the standard Sweet Home setup. "Not your fault," I told her, as she moved to my side, looking like she wanted to do something to help. "Just need to stop by the medbay. Also need to check up on your sister. Any issues there?"

Powder was quiet for a moment. "She smells," the small girl stated. "Like a toilet."

"Expected that," I nodded, my cracked rib throbbing less with each breath, though still hurting quite a bit. My statement prompted a curious look from the girl, though she didn't say anything. "You know when you have to use the bathroom, but you can't that moment, so you have to hold it?" Powder nodded. "Well, she's unconscious, so she can't hold it."

The girl's face screwed up in a look of disgust. "Ew, gross!"

"Medicine often is," I shrugged, starting to climb the stairs. "Pills and potions are clean, but bodies are messy, so dealing with them often is too. Don't worry, I'll take care of it, after I finish applying a new set of bandages. The salve has a pain-relieving component, so once that kicks in, I'll change the sheets, clean her off, and change her bandages as well."

Powder, following, hesitantly asked, "Do you need help?"

"For my own bandages, yeah, for Violet, only if you want to," I informed her honestly, leaving the choice up to her.

I was pleasantly surprised when, after my own wounds were seen to, she, after a moment's hesitation, stayed, though she did put the bunny off to the side. Narrating what I was doing, we were done soon enough, then washed up as I made real sandwiches to go with the soup I reheated. My companion was quiet until we were done, the dishes washed and put away, following me over to the lounge, where I sat on a sinfully comfortable couch, letting out a long sigh as, finally, I had some fucking time.

"So, Powder," I said, getting the girl's attention. "We'll wake up your sister tomorrow, but until then, I'm free. So, I believe you were creating a lesson on Chemtech for me?"

The look she gave was a volatile mix of panic, hope, and doubt. "I, it's not ready," she started to hedge, falling silent as I held up a forestalling palm.

"Powder," I told her, closing and turning my hand over, counting off on my fingers. "What I know about Chemtech is that, one, it's chemicals, two, it does things, three, it's a glowing fluid, and four, it's toxic if you're not careful. Do you know more than that?"

From the pre-teen's expression, she thought I was having her on, but I just stared back at her, waiting.

"I, uh, yeah?" she eventually replied. "Really?"

"Really," I agreed. "Mechanical power, steam, and electricity I'm fairly certain I know more about than you do, and I'll teach you later, but to me Chemtech is 'magic glow-y stuff', that I know nothing about. For instance, is it flammable, like oil is?"

Powder, looked at me incredulously, replying derisively, "Like, duh," freezing a moment later as the response had been automatic, and she was clearly now worrying about how I'd take her dismissive statement.

My response?

Laughter.

"See, you know way more about this than I do!" I told her opening my arms, and she hesitantly relaxed. "So how 'bout you go get your journal, and then tell me what you've been telling Ms. Hoppingsworth?"

Powder nodded, scurrying off upstairs for her room, coming back down with the journal held tightly to her chest. The girl made sure to place her bunny next to me, moved to stand in front of us both, then froze in indecision.

"Relax, Powder, and take as much time as you need. Now, what's on the first page?" I suggested, and she nodded, glancing down at the book she clutched as if she'd forgotten she was holding it.

Flipping it open, she looked it over, and took a deep breath "Okay. Okay. Uh. Chemtech! It's Power Juice!" she informed me, before wincing, looking down. "That sounds dumb."

However, even that was enough for Science Talent to stir, and I considered her words, examining them from multiple angles. "No, it's not stupid... Juice, it's not naturally forming, but has to be made by extracting the fluid from something. Is Chemtech the same?" I questioned, and the girl blinked, before nodding excitedly.

"Yeah, it is!" she agreed.

"And 'Power'," I continued. "Do you mean heat? Or light? Or physical force?" I knew it could make bombs, but-

"It's all of them," Powder announced enthusiastically. "Or just one. Or two! Isn't that cool!"

Holding a hand up, I checked, "Wait, they're selectable!?" At her confirmation, I leaned forward, nodding in agreement. "That's, just... How? Sorry, sorry, I'm jumping forward, my bad."

"It's okay," she quickly reassured me.

"Thanks," I told her, shooting her a gracious smile. "Yeah, that is cool. So, Professor Powder, tell me about this... 'Power Juice'," I requested, and, with growing confidence, she did just that.

Chapter Fourteen

Waking, I found myself not as alone as I'd been when I'd gone to sleep.

I'm gonna have to get her to stop doing this, I thought, shaking my head, once more slipping out of my shirt to go take a shower, Powder holding onto it tightly. She was gone when I was done, my top in the clothes hamper, so at least she wasn't waiting for me, or something.

As I was making breakfast, the small girl walked in with a smile, hesitating as I shot her an assessing look. "After we wake Violet up, you're going to need to sleep in your own room, Powder," I informed her. By her frown, she didn't like that, opening her mouth to argue, but cut herself off, formulating an actual objection. Guessing where she was going, I added, "And if you don't want to sleep alone, I'm sure she wouldn't object to sharing her bed with you. It might even make her feel better, but I'm not sure about that."

The not-quite-teen took her seat at the counter, but obviously wasn't happy. Not looking at me, she muttered, as if she didn't want to be responsible for her words, "But Vi didn't come for me. You did."

"Violet tried," I argued, "and, after what she went through, I'm pretty certain she's going to have nightmares." Honestly, I'd be concerned if Violet didn't have any, as, by my read of the girl from Arcane, she seemed fairly normal, and a lack of such things would mean I'd completely missed the mark on her. "You could help with that, in a way that I can't." At Powder's confused expression, as she turned to look at me directly, I gestured to myself, "You know, being a man that she's only met once before, as opposed to her little sister whom she loves very much."

The girl nodded at that, unable to argue, though quickly asked, "But, not right now, right?"

"We need to do it today, but I want to give her one more once over, since she might have some... objections to me doing so later," I replied, aware of the situation, but also of how bad of a condition Violet had been in, and how, even with Runeterran healing, there was a very real possibility for permanent scarring or damage if she didn't receive proper medical care. If I had to put off waking her up for another day to make sure she got that care, instead of having her refuse for any number of understandable, but foolish, reasons, I'd do it. "I need to make sure she's at the point she can take care of herself."

"And if she's not?" Powder inquired, not hiding her hope very well, not that her sister was that injured, but that Powder could put off confronting the older girl that, in her opinion, had abandoned the blue-haired child.

"Then we wait a few days," I shrugged in turn. "But only if. In two days I'll get busy again, so I'd rather do it now."

The girl didn't have any response to that, so we ate breakfast in silence, with her getting increasingly nervous as we finished, Powder insisting that we wash the dishes first, then following me back up to the medical bay. Changing Violet's soiled bedsheets, we then cleaned the girl herself and removed her bandages. For someone from Earth, her recovery would be miraculous, but from the Company's records, it was only a little better than normal for standard Runeterrans, a hint of her future capabilities.

Full 'Legends' of the League, whose bodies had been infused with Mana to the point they could fight on a superhuman level, could keep going past the point they should collapse, and bounce back with only a day or two of rest, and that was assuming they took that level of damage in the first place, but Violet was likely a Tier 3 at this point, maybe Tier 4, as opposed to the Legends' Tier 5 status, while Jayce, when I had dropped in, was at the lower end of Tier 3, at the edge of what was humanly possibly without superpowers, but not having crossed the threshold into Tier 4's range of power.

Looking over the pink-haired girl, the stitches had already half-dissolved, her flesh raw, but healing, the teen in better shape than I was, for the most part. Her lifestyle in the Lanes, while not the best, had seemingly led to her putting herself through the kind of conditioning that Demacian soldiers endured, though not the ridiculousness that their elites were capable of, though that in turn might have been because of the fact that she was fifteen instead of a fully grown adult. Because of that, her Mana infusion levels were much higher than my own, something I needed to rectify, after I finished healing, though the healing process would, in a small way, also help with that, as, like a broken bone would regrow stronger, the repeated growth of cells would in turn take in more and more ambient Mana as they filled in the injury.

I could set my Sweet Home only to places that I'd visited and opened a portal into before and thus allowing it to 'sample' the conditions, which meant I was stuck with Piltoverian and Zaunite enviromentals, going for the former for obvious reasons, but I mentally added a trip to Ixtal and Ionia to my long list of 'get to eventually' tasks. Being able to up the elemental or spiritual components of the Mana in the air, the same thing that led to so many mages of those types being born in those countries, would be interesting, at the very least, and possibly beneficial. It'd also let me do tests on how those things effected Hextech, and other possible inventions, without having to try and go and set up a lab in those foreign countries.

The 'Not-Asia' of Ionia was seemingly peaceful, but between the monsters, the bandits, and other 'local' dangers any 'foreigners' would get noticed quickly, and seen as easy marks. The country also took after Asia in its semi-isolationist nature, where they would trade with you, but think of themselves as superior, and it was a coin toss on if they'd try and screw you over, at least according to Jayce's memories hearing about them from the other members of house Talis.

Ixtal, the 'Not-South-America' of this world, was worse in that respect to a ludicrous degree. Most of what Jayce knew about the nation was from hundreds or thousands of years ago, the nation ravaged when the ancient Icathian empire fell, and then scarred in the Rune Wars, and then... nothing. I knew there was still a nation, hidden deep in the jungles, though I had no idea where, but, as far as Jayce was concerned, Ixtal was an uninhabited green hell, where a few barbaric tribal villages might mete out a pitiful existence, but nothing was left of the great elemental mage-kings of old.

But before I could visit either, I had a lot of work left to do in Piltover.

Applying another layer of salve, I rebandaged Violet up. For better or worse, most of the serious damage had been limited to a specific delicate area. The scattered contusions and cuts she'd taken from fighting Silco's men, and then likely the prison's Enforcers, who were all currently rotting in hell, were of a much lower severity, and were also most of the way healed, hematomas mere fading yellowish bruises and cuts thin red lines on her skin. Those injuries got a bit of medical paste as well, though a different type meant to handle those kinds of 'everything's mostly good' injury, as applying this other substance to an open wound might lead it to healing the wrong-way-round, sealing the skin too quickly and leaving a pocket of air, along with anything that might still be in the wound tract, stuck inside, leading to the possibility of nasty infections.

"She still looks bad," Powder commented as I finished up, leaving the medical bay. "We should let her rest. We're letting her rest, right?"

Going into what would be Violet's room, next to Powder's, something I'd assigned to the older girl through the Sweet Home controls on my Company phone, I started putting together an outfit, something that could go over Violet's wrappings. For a culture in which hospitals existed, as I understood them, waking up in a hospital gown, while a little uncomfortable, was also understandable. However, here doctors either made house calls, or you were so poor you went somewhere of... less than sanitary conditions, but either way you normally just wore your clothes, so the... specifically lacking garment would just cause further confusion and create more problems, which I wanted to avoid.

"Powder," I said, glancing at the nervous looking girl. "We talked about this. Putting it off won't help. Now let's get her dressed. It's time."

The girl quite obviously didn't want that to be true, but, I had to give it to her, she didn't run, leaving me to wake up Violet alone, and she easily could have, especially in some kind of bid to try and delay things, as I was forced to track her down if I wanted her to be there when I woke her sister up, but she merely followed, wanting to help. Soon enough, the teenager was dressed, her IV's removed in the process, and the last of the suppressants were metabolizing themselves out of her system.

Opening the windows to get some air flow, and try and reduce the harsh smell of medicine and cleaners, Violet started to stir, and I motioned to Powder, who moved to her sister's side, while I retreated, not wanting to crowd the teen.

"Wha'?" the pink-haired girl moaned blearily, trying to open her eyes, but quickly shutting them and trying to lift an arm to block out the light, only to wince as she pulled on her mostly healed, but still present, injuries.

"Vi! It's okay!" Powder told her sister, worries forgotten in an instant, clearly wanting to hug the older girl, but holding herself back.

"P-Powder?" Violet questioned, the last of the drugs fading from her system, and forcing her eyes open, focusing on the younger girl. "W-what?"

"Jayce saved me! And he saved you! And we're at his house! It's in another world! Isn't that cool!?" the smaller girl chattered, and I realized I probably should've been more explicit in what I meant by 'giving your sister time to wake up', and that it extended to talking as well.

"I, what?" Violet questioned, obviously lost, but taking in the medical bay. Spotting me, she focused, staring, mind working, before quietly, asking, "That. That was real?"

Grimacing at the memory, I nodded. "Yes. I got you out. Didn't think anything like that was going to happen," I told her, wanting to say more, but not wanting to go into detail, especially as, if I was right, the girl was about to have a, completely justified, nervous breakdown over what happened to her right before she passed out. Being in a safe place, the lessened pain of her injuries, being dressed, and Powder's presence would ameliorate the worst of it, but-

"Oh. Oh. Oh God!" the teenager gasped, clutching her hands to her chest, eyes widening as if on cue, as what'd happened hit her. Had she been Stamped, Mental Defense would blunt the worst of it but... that needed to be a punishment, or an offer, or I'd find far too many excuses to use it to solve my problems. While I now knew there was no such thing as universal karma, my Defenses such that I'd be immune to it even if there were, and while I knew that going Stamp-happy would have no direct negative consequences, in fact the Company would approve of it, that made my own morals all the more important to hold on to.

Because they were a commitment to myself, and if I couldn't even keep that, what was I?

Because could I rightly object to the actions of others, warping and molding minds as they wished, when I would do the same?

Because while I might do so with the best of intentions, so might someone else, and while intentions gave context to actions, the actions themselves were of prime importance.

So, in one way, while I was refusing to help the girl with her in-progress breakdown, help was not to be forced, and there was no way for her to accept a choice of that magnitude right now. An offer like that, presented under that kind of coercion, was also something I refused to do.

Having accepted the Company's offer under such conditions, that woman's actions 'legal' by The Company's viewpoint, but morally bankrupt, I would not do that to another.

Powder, trying to help, moved to her sister and moved to lay a comforting hand on the girl's arm, telling her, "It's okay, Vi! We're safe here!"

I wasn't sure exactly which way the older girl would break, if she'd stay frozen, cry, hold onto her sister and then cry, start demanding answers, but I had plans for all of them.

Violet flinched away from her sister, and, in a motion that looked like it was supposed to be fluid, but was really stumbling as, despite the painkillers still in her system, she was still injured, the teen darted across the medbay, but not for me, as I shifted my stance, having hoped she wouldn't physically attack me, but having planned for that eventuality.

No, she jumped out the window.

... Okay. Didn't plan for that, I thought, a little stunned, even as Powder, shocked and pained, yelled, "Vi! Wait!"

The small girl was blindsided, as was I, but for her it was obviously the reopening of still-healing wound, though one of the heart instead of the flesh, as she looked to me, desperately, and I saw the opportunity, one I didn't expect. And, because I had no hand in creating it, one that almost surely wouldn't backfire on me if I pursued it.

Powder still cared for her sister, despite what she said, and did so deeply. I'd been helping her recover from Violet's 'abandonment', while also putting myself in a position to be there for the eleven-year-old girl. In one way you could argue that I was doing so selfishly, inserting myself in her life, while in reality I just wanted to help her and give the girl, who both needed and deserved it, a friend. It was easy to ascribe whatever motives one wished to a single event, and only through looking at them in context and in aggregate could one understand someone's mindset, as I'd hoped my recruiter had had a good reason for her actions, only to find out the woman had more in common with Class A than myself.

However, now that Vi had run, again, for reasons I... didn't quite understand, after I'd been pushing Powder to reconcile, I realized I could break that connection now, and easily at that. Separating the two of them before, from a single event, would've been difficult. But two? Two started a pattern, and a third would be easy enough to find, or create if need be. I knew I was visibly surprised, which I could spin as trying to be there and help, but, now that Vi had once again 'abandoned' Powder, it would suggest that I was wrong previously, had been overly forgiving and optimistic, and that the blue-haired girl should now renounce her older sister over her actions, a renouncement I would admit was correct, showing me to be just as human and hurt as Powder was, further establishing our rapport.

I'd lose Violet as a possible asset, sending her on her way to avoid interference... or would I need to? Actually...playing them off each other, I could try and 'help' them reconcile, but make myself central to the process, not stopping it, but slowing it, while making each believe that I was a central component and that, without my presence, such things would be impossible.

Because, even if Powder broke things off, the ragged edges of the emotional connection would hurt, and push her to try and reconnect, so I could use them to gain control over the girl, while Violet, who I was ninety-nine percent sure still loved her sister but was, well, having a mental breakdown, would want to reconnect as well, giving me a hold over her as I played gatekeeper while seemingly understanding and trying to help Powder 'understand' Violet's position, implying that she wouldn't normally.

It would be a somewhat difficult balancing act, but not the worst, and would even be self-maintaining to a certain degree, as if they both thought me central to things, they'd go out of their way to include me as, in their minds, reconciliation without me would 'obviously' not be possible. Playing up Violet's dismissiveness of anything that wasn't straightforward and punch-able, as evidenced her support-less vague encouragement of her little sister's explosive inventions, and playing up Powder's intelligence, which Violet could not easily match except through me as I broke the concepts down to her level of understanding, then anything that involved most of what either sister liked to do would require me to 'translate', as someone who was capable of both invention and brutal combat.

With this being a pocket-world Violet wasn't going anywhere, so I could spend the immediate future binding the now drifting Powder to me, then, with the caveat that I needed to be the one to handle the girl's belligerent sister, approach Violet... Or let her approach us on her own, making it an action made of her own will, and forcing her to come in from a lesser position, which would work on her psychologically, as I doubted the Zaunite had sufficient bushcraft to survive indefinitely. Additionally, my domain had no poisonous plants, predators, venomous fauna, and didn't get so cold that her life would be in danger, and thus allowing her to attempt to 'survive' in the wilderness did not present any of the normal risks such a play might entail.

It was a nearly-perfect plan, and one well within my capabilities to carry out.

Especially with my Song, able to patch holes and cover unexpected developments. It would not allow me to mold their minds directly, as that would be a step too far for me, but to... push them, gently, in the proper direction, it was an undeniable asset. It wouldn't be enough to make them believe whatever I wanted, but it would be a slight finger on the scale to help tip things my way, but never so much as to force them to do something they truly did not want.

Yes... this could work, and bring them both to me, in ways the Stamp did not, and then, when they both got old enough, I'd make them the offer, and they'd be mine, forever.

Except, of course, I wasn't a fucking asshole.

"She's not fully aware yet," I told Powder, walking over to the girl and kneeling, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Your sister just woke up after something terrible, and she's not thinking straight. Violet didn't mean to leave you again. She just felt trapped and needed to be alone to get her bearings," I Sang, almost certain I was right, addressing the girl's fears.

"R-really?" Powder asked, eyes bright with unshed tears, desperate to believe that, after getting her hopes up, she would not have them shattered again.

I nodded, patting the girl on the shoulder, and standing, I spotted Violet had already starting to slow as she reached the tree line a couple hundred feet away. The older girl was looking around in confusion, as she came to a stop and realized she wasn't in Piltover anymore, slumped over, hands on her knees, and vomited, as my ideas of what was likely going on in her head solidified. Looking down at the small girl, I gestured for the door.

"Go out to her, I'll be there in a few minutes," I directed, having a handle on how Powder would act, and Violet might respond, a dozen plans spinning up in my mind, every single one resulting in victory, though at varying costs. All of them were worth it, though.

Because, despite their issues, Powder deserved to have her sister, and Violet deserved to not be abandoned either.

And I'd make sure that happened.

Chapter Fifteen

Where the fuck am I? Violet thought, mind racing, body aching, hands shaking as she came to a stop in front of trees.

She remembered being in prison.

She remembered trying to break out.

She remembered...

She...

No, that doesn't matter, Vi told herself, shoving that to the back of her mind.

But she couldn't, not really.

And she remembered.

She felt.

Hunching over, she vomited, the sick splattering the grass under her feet.

It was thin, watery, like she hadn't eaten in days.

Desperate to focus on anything else, Vi latched onto that, which didn't make sense.

She'd eaten yesterday.

Hadn't she?

That confusion, that sense of being lost, it wasn't good, but it was better than...

Coughing, wiping her mouth of the sick still on her lips, she looked around again, and tried to figure out where she was.

She was standing on grass, there were trees behind her, a full forest of them. That meant she wasn't in Piltover.

Taking another breath, Vi winced, the air almost... sharp, the smells weird, unsettling.

Focusing, she looked at the trees again. They were the type that grew past the Topside, not the ones that were beyond the Underside. The guy she robbed was here, having taken her... somewhere.

Okay, that meant she was in Noxus.

Looking around, she could see a single mountain, but a small one, smaller than the one north of Piltover, and, looking in the other direction, there wasn't the range there should be, there was just the ocean which...

Was... clear?

Oh, oh no, she thought, with mounting dread. If that was the ocean, which was nothing like the oceans near Piltover, then she was a long, long way from home.

"Vi!" she heard a voice call, and turned around, seeing Powder running for her.

Powder! How did I forget about her? Vi thought, memories slamming into her. She'd left her, once, when she'd found out that her sister had... had... but she'd tried to come back, only she'd been taken before...

"Silco!" Vi almost shouted, looking around. The last she'd seen of her sister, Silco had been standing over her, which meant that if she was here, then the other guy must be working for that son of a bitch! And she'd thought he'd been something different, but he was a Topsider, so of course he was dirty. "Powder, we gotta go!"

But, even as she went to grab her sister's hand, Powder pulled back with a confused, "Vi?"

Glancing around, there was no sign of the Topsider, but that wouldn't last. "We need to get back to The Lanes," Violet told her sister. "I, I don't know where we are, but-"

"Oh, we're in another world," Powder said, with a smile. "I told you that already!"

She had? Shaking her head, Vi frowned, "I, what?"

"Yeah! It's kind of like..." the younger girl trailed off, seeing the pool of vomit and wrinkling her nose in disgust, before giving Vi a worried look. Powder quickly grabbed a rock, and a bit of grass. "Okay, so, this rock is our world, and this is where we are now," she said, waving the bit of grass, launching into an explanation that made no sense.

It was the kind of ridiculous, over-complicated thing that was impossible, but the kind of thing her little sister would believe without a second thought. They've lied to her, so she doesn't know either, Violet realized, looking around, trying to work stiff muscles loose in case she needed to run, or fight.

Only, her clothes didn't fit right.

Glancing down, she realized that she wasn't wearing her clothes.

She was wearing something, but it was something she'd never seen before.

And under those were bandages.

They stripped me, she thought, only, at the back of her mind, she knew it wasn't the Topsider that had.

It had been...

It had...

"Vi!" Powder called, and the pink-haired girl flinched, her sister at her side, and Violet was shaking, breathing like she'd just been running, but she'd just been standing there, hadn't she?

"I..." the older girl tried to say, finding the words hard to gather. "I..."

Her sister tried to help, telling her, "Do you not like the shirt? I can ask Jayce to get you a different one!"

"Jayce?" Violet asked, trying to focus, even as it felt like she could barely breathe.

"Yeah, Jayce!" Powder replied, nodding, which didn't help. "Oh, right, he's, um, he's the Topsider we robbed. And I blew up. But he's not mad about it or anything!" she quickly added, waving her hands in front of her. "He's actually really nice!"

Sure he is, Violet thought sarcastically, but Powder had been taken in by their lies, so saying that wouldn't help. "And who else is here?" she questioned instead, trying to get an understanding of the guards.

Her little sister, however, just looked confused. "Um, we are?" Powder questioned in return.

"Yes, but who else?" the older sister pressed, trying to figure out how they got here, so they could use it to get back out. There weren't any docks in the weirdly clear water, or marks in the smooth sand, so it wasn't a boat, and she didn't see a path, so-

"It's just us," the blue-haired girl shrugged.

Turning to look skeptically at her sister, Powder just shrugged again. Looking back to the building she'd left, Violet took a second to really look at it and...

It was. . . wrong.

Most of the first floor didn't have walls, but instead glass, so clear she could see inside, like a greenhouse. The second floor looked more like buildings in Piltover did, but only by a little, the windows still too big, the walls too white without looking painted.

But, it made no sense.

That much glass, it should break, or be so expensive that even a Pilty shouldn't be able to afford it. And in the middle of nowhere? And the place was big, really big, but it was just him? No servants, or helpers, or anyone else?

None of this made any sense.

And, through those windows she caught side of the Topsider, of 'Jayce', who smiled and waved, and she stiffened, knowing she'd been spotted. He came walking out a moment later, one of the pieces of glass sliding to the side, a door, and she stood up straight, commanding her sister to, "Get behind me, Powder!"

But her sister didn't listen, running up to the Topsider instead. "Jayce! I think something's wrong with Vi!" she called, and the man winced, nodding.

He walked up to her, but stopped a good five feet away, and his expression looked so concerned, she had to remind herself he was one of Silco's men. "Good morning, Violet," he said, looking her over in way that made her uncomfortable. "How are you feeling? Anything actively painful?"

"I, what?" she asked, but pushed her confusion away, just like she was everything else that might stop her. "What do you want with us?" she demanded.

Her question put the man back a step. "Um, to save you?"

She frowned at the obvious lie. "Why?" she pressed.

"Because you deserve it," he shrugged. "Because you have potential? Because it's what Vander would've wanted? Take your pick."

She felt her breath catch, remembering the man that was her father in everything but name, body swollen and twisted, but pushed it away too. "How did you know him?"

"Knew of him," the Pilty corrected. "We weren't friends, or anything. But he was a good person, and he didn't deserve what happened."

"Where you there?" she asked, trying to remember, but she'd have remembered if he was in that warehouse. Wouldn't she?

"Only at the very end, in time to pull Powder out of the fire, so to speak," he sighed. "If I'd seen you, I would've tried to grab you too, but the Enforcers got to you. I pulled out, and I thought I'd have more than couple days to get you out too, but then-"

"Shut up!" she commanded, even as her own mind started to drift back to what had happened, and she started to shake. "Where are we?"

"I told you," Powder replied, a little petulantly, but moving away from the Topsider, picking up the same rock she'd dropped. "We're in another world."

Violet didn't take her eyes off the man, but he didn't even blink at the blatant lie. "Where are we really?" she demanded.

"Powder's not wrong, we're in a pocket dimension," he lied. "If it helps, think of Runeterra, your world," he added as she frowned at the weird word, "as a soap bubble, and this as a much, much smaller bubble that's stuck to the outside. One that can slide a bit around the outside the larger one. Understand?"

She didn't, but she didn't need to. "How do we get back home then?" she questioned. "Can we even go back?"

"Jayce goes back, like, all the time!" Powder nodded, and Vi shot her sister a small smile for the information, information he probably wouldn't have given her.

"Then take us back," she commanded.

The man, however, sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, so, back to my original question, how are you feeling?" he asked. "I'm not a doctor, and we did our best, but I need to know. Any sharp pains, burning feelings, things like that?"

"I'm fine," she told him, not that she would've said anything else otherwise. If she said yes, he'd say he'd have to do things and, and she wasn't letting anyone touch her like that again. "Now take us back!"

"Uh, Vi?" her sister asked, suddenly nervous.

"Not now, Powder," Vi dismissed. "How do we get home?" The Topsider hesitated, and she took a step forward, fist raised, and tried not to wince as she felt something in her hips pull painfully. "Tell me!"

"Portal in the basement," he told her pointing a thumb back towards the weird building. "But not today. You're still hurt, and not ready to-"

Which was all she needed to hear. She knew where she needed to go, and that he wasn't going to let her go, so she needed to make sure he wouldn't stop her.

Two steps and she was on him, a cross to the face blocked as he lifted an arm, but that meant his side was open, and Vi ducked down, throwing two jabs into his stomach, and cross to the ribs, which broke with a sharp crack and he went down with a scream of pain.

Didn't expect that, did you? she thought to her captor vindictively.

"Come on!" the pink haired brawler told her sister, starting to run for the building, only for the girl to run for the man instead, who'd crumpled, with a cry of "Jayce!"

The blue hair girl knelt down next to the Pilty, who was gasping, holding his side. "Jayce, are you okay?" Powder asked, turning to look to Violet as she approached warily. "What is wrong with you!?" young girl demanded, flinching away as her older sister reached for her. "Why do you keep hitting people who just want to help!?"

Vi hesitated, "This, this is different. And I'm sorry about that, Powder, but we need to go!"

"No!" her sister argued, starting to cry, wasting time. "No, it's worse! I, I made a mistake. And because of it I killed-" she shook her head. "But Jayce didn't! And you hurt him!"

"He's keeping us prisoner!" Vi argued. "He wasn't going to let us go!"

"Today," the Topsider gasped, as he tried to get to his knees, Powder moving to help him, Vi ready to lay him out if she needed to. "I said today!"

It broke her heart to see Powder glaring at her, helping a Pilty, but Vi had to get them both out, before he could lie to her little sister even more. "Let us go, or else!" she threatened, lifting a fist. Powder might get mad at her, but it was the best thing to-

"If you want, to get yourself killed," the man gasped, shuddering in pain, "Fucking fine! But I'm not, letting you kill Powder."

She took a step back, shocked at his accusation, "What? I wouldn't!"

The man glared at her, getting one foot under himself, sneering, an anger in her eyes that she expected, but even then unsettled her. "You'll go after Silco. Won't you?"

"Well, yeah!" she replied. "He killed Vander! I don't care if you work for him or not!"

"Then you'll die," the Pilty pronounced.

And it would be like a Topsider, to look down on people like her. "I took his guys down before!"

The man laughed, once, then doubled over in pain, Powder letting out a worried yelp as she tried to help him. Leaning back up with her help, he told Violet, "You beat a dozen of his men, that underestimated you, with weapons you don't have any more, on a battlefield that was fucking ideal. And you still lost. You think he doesn't have, a few vials of Shimmer stored? Or a fucking gun? Do you even, know where he is?" he snarled in gasps.

"I," she started to say, "I'll find him," she declared. "He can't hide forever!"

"He'll find you first. And you'll die," the Pilty told her, each breath short. "But you want to, throw away Vander's sacrifice? Fine. But you know, you can't protect Powder, if you try. I'll open the gate, but she's staying here." He spat, and it was red with blood. "And there's nothing, you can do, to change that."

She looked to her sister, starting to command, "Powder-"

"I'm staying with Jayce!" her little sister declared. "He got hurt saving you! And you just hurt him more! Maybe... maybe you should go!"

Before she could respond, the Topsider did. "No, Powder. She shouldn't. But I won't, keep her here, if she wants to leave. Fuck this hurts!" he added to himself, slowly and shakily standing, his white shirt stained red where she'd hit him. "Fuck. I'm gonna need, to call this in. But first, Violet, Choose," he commanded, staring at her, and his voice seemed to cut through the air, slamming into her.

Violet flinched at it, and saw him wince, but he said nothing else.

He just stared at her, waiting.

But she couldn't.

"What happened?" she asked, feeling off-balance. Vi had a mission, had something to focus on, but now... "What happened to the..." she trailed off again, even thinking about it made her want to curl up, but, but if she had to make a decision, she had to know.

But she couldn't get the words out.

"What happened to, the people who hurt you?" The Topsider guessed, and she nodded, looking away, not wanting to think about it, but if they were still-

"Dead. All of them," he stated, voice cold.

"R-really?" she questioned. Somehow he'd gotten her out, but-

The Pilty's gaze was hard. "Put a bullet, in all of them, myself. And their friends."

"And Silco?" Vi pressed.

"He ran. Hid. Priority was Powder," the man informed her. "You leave, and find him? Find me at Benzo's. In two days. I'll help. But you'll probably, just die. Now. Choose."

She wanted to leave. Wanted to run. Wanted nothing more than to head back to the Last Drop, and come apart at the seams, every inch of her feeling broken and shattered, shards ripping her apart from the inside out.

But Powder was here.

And she wouldn't leave her sister.

Not again.

"...I'll stay," she finally declared, and it took everything she had to stand firm, looking the Topsider, looking Jayce in the eye.

He stared at her for a moment, standing straight up, before he nodded, and started to walk past, towards the building behind her. "Good," he said, breaths short. "Your room, is upstairs. Powder can, show you."

"What about you?" her little sister asked. "You're hurt!"

"Going to call, my boss. He might be, able to help. Hopefully won't, cost, too much," he muttered, almost to himself, limping slightly.

Powder followed after him, so Violet did as well, not sure what else to do, but knowing she wasn't going to let her sister out of her sight. They went inside, and he glanced at them, before changing direction and moving to a room with chairs arranged in front of a black stone rectangle.

What Jayce said wasn't any language she knew, but sent chills down her spine, reminding her of the Sump, where their clubhouse was, when her, Mylo, Clagor, and Powder were younger, deep enough that it never got that bright. It reminded her of the quiet moments, when everything was still, almost dead, and there was a whisper of something just at the edge of hearing.

The black stone rectangle flickered with light, before it settled to show something horrible. A skeleton, clad in a black robe, an unearthly blue glow coming from its empty eye sockets that made them seem deeper than they should be. It was like something from the stories of the Shadow Isles, only it was right in front of her.

"HELLO", the skeleton said, without moving its jaw at all. Where Jayce's command had seemed to charge into her, this. . . this thing's words cut through her like she wasn't even there. "I DID NOT EXPECT TO HEAR FROM YOU SO SOON." The skull rotated slightly, as it looked at Powder, and at Vi, then back to the Top- back to Jayce. "AND YOU HAVE GUESTS? BUT YOU HAVE NOT..."

"They're eleven, and sixteen," Jayce responded. "I'll make, the offer, when they're adults. But they're not, why I called."

The skeleton gave the man a silent, motionless, yet somehow assessing gaze. "I WAS LED TO BELIEVE YOU HAD THINGS IN HAND. WAS I IN ERROR?"

"Unexpected, circumstances," Jayce shrugged, then bit back a grunt of pain, while Violet winced. She... hadn't been thinking. But that was nothing new. Vander was always telling her... Vander, she thought, remembering that she'd never talk to the man again.

"I BELIEVE I MAY UNDERSTAND. WHY DID YOU CONTACT ME? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO OFFER?" The spirit, because it had to be some kind of spirit, asked.

"Not yet, but I need, some healing. Broke my rib," he said, standing straight, taking his hand away to reveal the red splotch on his shirt, damp with blood. "Too many, questions, of how, I got it. I am willing, to bargain."

The skeleton nodded, an almost exaggerated motion. "A BARGAIN CAN BE MADE. I WILL SEND SOMEONE TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE DONE IN EXCHANGE FOR ONE-THOUSAND HOURS. THE ONLY THING MORE CONSTANT THAN I, IS PAPERWORK. NO OTHER REQUESTS WILL BE ALLOWED UNTIL YOU HAVE PAID THIS DEBT."

Jayce bit his lip, thinking, before he sighed, wincing as he did so. "Would haggling, be offensive?"

"YOU MAY TRY," the spirit allowed.

"How 'bout, five hundred? That's a, season of, full time work," he proposed.

"ONE THOUSAND," was the skeleton's reply.

"Eight hundred?" Jayce tried.

"ONE THOUSAND."

"Nine hundred, and ninety-nine?" he suggested weakly.

"ONE THOUSAND."

The man laughed, then groaned in pain. "I can try, but I won't, succeed?" he asked.

"INDEED."

"... 'Kay, with standard, Hospitality rules, as a framework, it's one-thousand hours, to repair my broken rib. That fine?"

"IT IS ACCEPTABLE." The skeleton paused. "DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER REQUESTS?"

Jayce frowned. "You just said, I'd have to, pay this off, first," he pointed out.

"YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED AT HOW MANY DO NOT LISTEN," the spirit noted. "I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS."

And with that, the spirit's image vanished, leaving black stone.

"Half a year, of work, for a basic heal," Jayce grumbled, shaking his head. "And I thought, Class Bee was bad."

Who? Vi thought, but before she could ask a chill swept through the room, and a line of ghostly green flame appeared in thin air, opening into rectangle of mist, and a ghost floated through. Her entire body was blue-white, with a tinge of green, as was her dress, which floated in the wind, the edges of her fading into mist, as she looked around, seeing Vi, and her sister, before she settled on Jayce, a look of utter contempt on her beautiful features, pointed ears peeking up through her long hair.

"You 'Jaycifer'?" the woman asked with disdain, her voice just short of a shriek, and Vi shuddered as the cold in the room seemed to intensify, leaching into her bones in a way she'd never felt before.

"I am," Jayce answered. "If you are, the delegate, of my superior, be welcome," he stated formally, bowing slightly. He glanced at Vi, and at Powder, who was holding onto him tightly. "Stand with Vi, for a sec," he directed, and her little sister clearly didn't want to, but still let go of his shirt, and scurried over to hold onto her sister instead.

Violet noticed it wasn't just her, Powder was shaking too, which, okay, yeah, scary ghost lady, so she held onto her sister in return, trying to comfort her.

Jayce glanced at them, frowned, but shook his head, facing the ghost. "Thank you, for your prompt, arrival," he said, between shallow breaths, and Vi noted they were getting shallower. "The agreement was, to fix my, broken rib. It would, raise too, many questions."

The woman raised one pale eyebrow. "She put up a fight?" she sneered.

"I, what?" he asked, and the woman glared at him. "Please restrain, yourself. Can yo-GAAAAGH!" he screamed as the ghost darted forward, one translucent hand grabbing the front of his shirt, lifting him off his feet, the other shoved into his chest.

The woman smiled sadistically, and the feeling of cold got worse, Violet taking a shuddering breath, feeling light-headed. She held tighter onto Powder, wondering what the hell was happening, as, with a wrench that made Jayce scream again, the ghost moved something inside him, then whispered something, ice crusting his shirt.

"Jayce!" Powder yelped, reaching a hand out, but Vi held her back before her little sister could run to his side.

The ghost threw him to the ground contemptuously, where he crumpled, shivering, but instantly started struggling to his feet. Looking their way, his teeth grit with pain, he saw something that made his eyes widen, and snarled in anger, looking towards the woman. "Guest, you are harming the others. Suppress your aura!"

"Pfft, you don't give me orders," the spirit spat.

Jayce stood straight, taking a deep breath, and wincing, but stared her down. "Guest, you are harming the others. Suppress your aura!"

The ghost's face shifted to something inhuman, and suddenly Violet wasn't in the room anymore, she was strapped down, and they were coming for-

"No!" she yelled, falling to her knees, shaking, back in the room, Powder holding her tight, shaking just as hard.

Her eyes were shut, but she could hear the rage in Jayce's voice. "Banshee, you are in violation of your contract! Leave my domain, and await to hear from Class E for your transgression!"

"'Transgression'?" the woman shot back, mockingly. "Just 'cause you don't even protect your sla-"

"They are unbound, and guests in my domain!" he thundered. "You have Violated the Rights of Hospitality, as delineated in the Compact of Winter's Eve, and as invoked in this Contract!"

"I, fuck!" the ghost swore, suddenly unsure. "You ain't Class Bee!"

"The Compact Does Not Care, And Neither Do I!"

"And if I kill you before you report me?" the ghost spat. "Didn't think of that, did you?"

"My Boss Is Literally DEATH, You Vapor-Brained Bitch! Now LEAVE!" he roared.

At once, the cold vanished from the room, though Violet still felt weak, and she looked up to see Jayce glaring at the ghost, who'd dropped to the floor, flowing dress replaced with a long skirt and blouse, still pale blue-green, but looking a lot more solid. "You don't have to call them," the woman pleaded, almost whining, and Violet fell over from her crouched down position, falling back to take a seat on the floor.

"But I have every right to," Jayce replied, glaring hatefully. "You have wronged me, Banshee-"

"Katherine!" the ghost interrupted, "My name's Katherine."

"You have wronged me, Banshee," he repeated, and the ghost grimaced. "What do you offer in restitution?"

She reached into a pocket, and pulled out two glass vials, filled with green glowing fluid. "Two restoration potions, for them?"

"Standard Restoration?" he asked, and she frowned.

"Lesser," she corrected, adding scornfully, "do you know how much Restoration potions cost?"

Jayce glared, "So you bargain in bad faith, and only seek to possibly undo the damage you have done." He gestured with one hand, mist and shadows streaking through the air to make a dark rectangle of stone in his palm.

"I, fuck, I didn't mean it like that," the ghost quickly argued. "And what are you, Class Bee?"

"I transferred," he remarked, the top of the stone glowing at his touch, as he started to tap it in a pattern with his thumb.

"Oh Fuck!" the ghost woman swore, now panicking. "I, uh, four lesser restoration potions, that will fix it, and two cure potions!"

Jayce stopped his tapping, "Cure Serious?"

"Cure mod," the woman shrugged helplessly, quickly adding as Jayce's thumb started to move. "And bracers of armor! Plus two! And a ring of protection plus one!"

The words didn't make any sense to Violet, but they obviously did to him, as he stopped and considered the offer. "Your terms are acceptable. Provide the items listed, and, if you have not lied, I shall make no formal complaint about your breaking of the Rights of Hospitality."

The ghost quickly nodded, taking out four more vials, two with a faintly glowing red liquid, pushing up her sleeves to strip off the arm-guards hidden under her blouse, and taking off a ring, putting them all on nearby table.

"I, uh, sorry," the ghostly woman offered. "I thought they were, ya know," she made an odd jabbing motion.

"They're children," Jayce remarked with disgust, voice still reverberating as he stared at her. "Not that such would matter to the Rites. Now, I suggest you leave."

"No hard feelings?" the ghostly woman offered, while he just stared at her, stone-faced. "Okay. Bye."

Another flaming green portal appeared, and she quickly flew off into the mist that filled it, the magic gate dissipating a moment later.

The second she was gone, Jayce fell to his knees, coughing, and Powder ran over to him. "Are y-you okay?" she stuttered, shaking like she was freezing, and, without a threat to face, Violet found herself shivering as well.

"I will be," he told her, coughing a bit more, his voice normal again, if a little hoarse. "But you two aren't. Powder, sit on that couch," he directed, wincing as he stood, and moving over to Vi. "You too, Violet. Fucking Banshees. Derek was right, it's a type."

She almost flinched when he reached out to her, but he didn't grab her, just held out an open hand, and waited. "I-I'm fine," she stuttered, and he nodded, taking a step back as she struggled to her feet on her own. "Why am I so weak?" she muttered to herself.

"Ability damage," he told her, which... didn't make sense. "Or drain. If it's drain, she'll get a visit she won't like. Some part of you was being drained by being near her. Do you feel clumsy, physically weak like everything's heavier, or weak like you're more fragile."

"Fragile. And cold," Powder said, as Vi moved to sit next to her sister.

"Given the terminology she used, it was probably endurance drain. Must've been some special variant," Jayce said, touching his frozen-over clothing, and wincing. "And that means she meant the skill, not actual healing. Definitely making a complaint over that bullshit. This isn't supposed to be A or Bee."

Not Bee, B, Violet realized, with them referring to D and E, though she didn't know what those letters referred to. "A-Aren't you cold?" she asked, frowning, trying not to shiver, and failing.

He glanced up, shrugging slightly, "Not really." She stared at the ice stuck to his chest. "I'm weird."

"In a g-good way!" Powder tried to tell him, holding herself and shaking, and Violet reached an arm over to try and hug her sister to her, to try and help her.

"Okay, first of all, let's get you sorted," he said, walking over and picking up two of the green-filled vials, flicking off the wax-sealed tops of both with his thumbs. "Drink this, it'll help."

"A-and if it doesn't?" Vi asked, staring at the fluid which looked way too much like powered Chemtech for her liking.

"Then the ghost version of Enforcers are going to kick down her door," Jayce told her with a darkly amused smile. "And they really like kicking in doors, so they won't go easy on her."

Accepting the glass tube, Powder drank it right away, then sighed in relief, so Violet did too.

It was like drinking liquid warmth, but not hot, and she felt herself feeling better, stronger, sighing in relief just like Powder did.

To her surprise, Jayce sighed too, like he'd drank one as well. "Okay, it was damage. Good."

Vi blinked, shaking her head to clear it. "What. . . what was that?" she asked, staring at the vial in her hand, a few glowing drops still inside.

"Magic," the man said, as if that was normal, and she stared at him instead. "Golarian magic, not Runeterran."

Beside her, Powder gasped in delight. "Was she from another world!?"

Jayce nodded. "Yep. Different magic system, where almost anybody can be a mage, or a hero, but most people don't, because it's crazy dangerous. How are you two feeling? Any lingering coldness or weakness? We've got two more for a reason."

"I'm fine!" her little sister chirped, and Violet tried to agree, but shivered a little halfway through her "Me t-too."

"That's a yes," he said, handing her another glowing green vial. "This might help with other things as well. Go ahead."

"But, i-it's magic," she tried to argue.

Jayce just shook his head. "If you're worried about it, it's a common item, and perfectly safe. Worth a few hundred gold."

"What?" she demanded, looking at the vial, which was worth more than everything they stole from his apartment. And he just. . . gave it to her?

"Sorry, conversions. Worth about three gold," he corrected. "Sorry, Gold's not a standard unit of measurement."

"Still," she said, staring at it. It was magic.

At her side, she felt her little sister bump into her. "Vi, it's okay. If you need it, use it," Powder urged.

Not able to respond to that, the pink haired girl drank the second vial, feeling that same warmth spread through her once more, until she felt... good. Better than she had when she woke up. Looking back at Jayce, he'd grabbed the two red-filled vials.

"These are potions of healing. They do literally what they sound like," he told her, holding them out. "I wish I had one of these before. They heal everything, because, well, magic, and could catch anything I missed. You could have a sword sticking out of you, and this would help you survive. Take them."

Her first instinct was to quickly grab both. If they could heal her from... from what had happened. But, he was hurt too. He was trying to hide it, she could tell that much, but whatever the ghost had done, it had hurt him, and from the way he was favoring his side it wasn't enough.

"No," she told him, and he looked at her, confused. "You're hurt worse, you use them. You're the one paying for them. They're yours."

"I, I can manage," he disagreed. "I'm worried about scarring on your end. The Banshee reset my rib, and froze it in place. I'll be fine."

Before she could tell him he was wrong, and that sounded horrible, Powder made an annoyed sound. "You're both being dumb," she told them. "There's two potions! You should each have one! Then you'll both be healed!"

"It's not a full heal," Jayce argued. "It'll-"

"No," Vi interrupted him. "Powder, she's right. It'll heal the worst stuff first, right?" He nodded. "So it'll help us both."

He looked between the two of them, and shook his head. "I guess I'm outvoted. Okay, Violet. Bottoms up."

She took one, and copied him as he popped the cap, watching as he drank his first before she drank hers. If the other two were liquid warmth, this was liquid life, surging down her body, and she felt it gather around her hips, the aches and pain she was doing everything she could to ignore slowly diminishing. Not completely, but she was... better.

Jayce, meanwhile, sighed, tearing off his shirt with the crack of breaking ice to show that his body was covered with healing bruises, hidden from sight, and a bit of blood where he'd been bleeding from. Touching the red-encrusted bit of skin, he winced a little, but nodded. "Broken's now back to fractured, but also healed a bit more than it was. Okay, I can work with this." He looked up, and noticed both of them staring. "Oh, sorry, I'll go put on a fresh shirt."

"What do you mean 'back to fractured'?" Vi asked, confused. He'd already been injured?

Powder nodded. "Yeah, he got hurt killing all the evil enforces at Stillwater prison!"

"I didn't kill all of them myself," he deferred, like, like that... was normal. "But at least a hundred, yeah."

Violet, however, just looked between the two of them.

"What?"