Chapter Text
Jayce woke up to harsh light, and his first thought was that he must have just died. There were a few glaring flaws with this conclusion, for instance, the fact that he was young and in perfect health, and the odds of him just dropping dead out of nowhere were rather slim.
He shut his eyes tightly, groaning through the nauseating pain of a headache. Burned into his eyelids was the after image of the hallway that led to his and Viktor’s lab. The last thing he could remember was that he’d been returning from a coffee run just before sunset, preparing the two of them for another late night of work.
None of that information made sense in this context anymore, though. There was no logical explanation for how those behaviors ended with him on his back in a different place being blinded by whiteblue light on all sides. Thus, the assumption that he was a dead man, and this was the afterlife.
After a few seconds of keeping his eyes open, though, his vision began to clear up. The cloudiness crystallized into a sort of… domed room. It was hazy in the way the sky over the sea was, blending from pale blue at the horizon line into the deeper, darker tone that implied the presence of the universe high above. The walls were intricately patterned, though the shapes were meaningless to him.
He sat up slowly, clutching his pounding forehead, and found himself in the middle of the room, facing an unfamiliar structure. Gilded, arched beams, rounding up into a protruding dome, as if the room itself had been shaped like an overlarge shell for the gold thing in front of him. Behind the entangled beams and supports, Jayce could see glowing, gear-like rings, all surrounded by more rings. They shone with the incomparable blue of Hextech.
He looked around again, and it clicked. The blue of the room was Hextech. All of this was Hextech. The structures of it all bore a resemblance to his and Viktor’s work in more than just the technical components. The designs themselves matched the style of the other inventions they’d made so far. The sophistication of gothic architecture that Viktor often seemed inclined to, colored in the aesthetic of Piltover-gold that Jayce could never resist shining up his work with. As he took in the design of the dome and its temple, he decided that there was zero possibility it had not been made by himself and Viktor. Which begged the question: How?
He and Viktor had only been partners for two years now, but he thought he would remember them making something so massive and powerful. The arcane energy it amassed prickled across his skin like frost, and the air itself was frigid enough that he had half a mind to really check and see if he was starting to freeze over, though he was experienced enough with Hextech to know that this was just the tingling sensation of being close to so much magic.
The familiarity of what was obviously his work eased a bit of the fear in his chest, but it didn’t help any of his confusion.
As he finally slowed down with his frantic processing, he took note of the sound of soft, echoing footsteps on the other side of the dome. Jayce’s heart dropped; he was not alone in here.
With renewed anxiety, Jayce shakily got to his feet. He wobbled for a second, more lightheaded than he expected to be, and started off towards his right. He gripped onto the structure as he walked, using it for support. The footsteps did not fade, though he must have gone around the wrong side, because when he got to the back, there was no behind it.
“Jayce Talis?”
Jayce jumped an inch off the ground, looking up as he realized there was a raised walkway about halfway up the structure. On top of that walkway, leaning over the railing, and peering down at him, was:
“Councillor Salo!?”
The corner of Salo’s lip quirked up. “What an unexpected sight.”
Jayce just gaped up at him. He had only seen Salo in person about five times, and each time had been thoroughly unpleasant. The man was obnoxious, greedy, and bitchy. At Jayce’s trial, Salo had been one of the crueler ones, voting against Heimerdinger’s suggestion of expulsion, instead a part of the minority in favor of banishing Jayce. The following meetings had been during three banquets and one test of the first Hexcarriage. Salo had been utterly unimpressed with Jayce from the start, dismissive of Hextech, and borderline prejudiced against Viktor.
“Wha- what are you doing here?” Was the next thing out of his mouth. Maybe the least important of his questions.
Salo leant away from the railing, and continued along the walkway. He had a long canister at his side. Jayce followed his movements from the ground floor. “I’m out on an errand. And you- well. I must say, I truly am surprised to see you.”
“I, I am too, Councillor. I’m sorry, I-” he ran a hand through his hair. “This is a, uh- I’m a bit out of sorts, at the moment.”
“Please,” Salo waved his free hand, as if casting aside Jayce’s worry. “I need no apology. Nor do I have any use of that title any longer. It no longer serves any purpose to me.”
“No purpose- you mean, being a councillor?” Jayce tried to clarify. Salo hummed in response.
“Of course. Why would I?”
Jayce’s jaw worked, silent words forming and disappearing on his tongue. Salo stopped, and Jayce heard a mechanical release. A trapdoor opened, and with another adjustment, a ladder descended. Jayce watched Salo climb down, and then swallowed back his shock at the clothing the man wore. White wrappings, carefully covering his legs and chest, draped around his shoulders, ornate gears, gems, and clasps around his waist. If Salo’s face had not been so distinct, he would have looked unrecognizable in such different garb than usual.
“What are you…” He shook his head, not sure what to ask first.
“You have been gone for quite a while. We were all beginning to suspect you were dead.” He regarded Jayce a moment, while Jayce balked in surprise.
“Dead?” His gasp produced a cloud of mist in the freezing temperatures.
“Last I had heard, you had been declared missing for roughly ten months. Give or take.” Salo shrugged. “The Herald will be so pleased to know that you have returned to us.”
“The Herald?” Jayce echoed. “Wait, ten months?”
Salo just smiled back at him, almost serenely. “Yes.” Jayce grappled with what question he now wanted to ask most. The order was reshuffling with every word exchanged.
“What- I- who is the Herald ?” He ran another hand through his disheveled hair. “Ten- I’ve been missing ten months?” Had Viktor made this whole thing in ten months? He’d been that productive? When had Jayce gone missing? What about the lab? The coffee’s in his hands? “Where are we?”
“The Hexgates, of course.” Salo blinked at him. There was something about his gaze that made Jayce feel very uneasy.
“The- no, that’s impossible.” He ruffled his hair anxiously again.
The Hexgates were not a room or a dome filled with canisters. The Hexgates were a prototype with six failed iterations, a four by six foot hunk of machinery in the lab, a heavy contraption that didn’t even work yet. It was not whatever this was.
And yet…
Somehow, instinctively, Jayce knew Salo was being honest. The room was filled with Hextech, dripping in his and Viktor’s design aesthetics. It finally hit him, then, with that realization, what had happened.
Jayce was not in the right place.
His thoughts flew by- a coma? Time travel? An alternate reality? Something even further beyond his comprehension?
“Oh dear gods,” he said breathily. “Oh fuck. Oh my god.”
“Jayce? Are you alright?”
“What?” He wheezed, dropping to his knees. Salo was several paces away now, like he had started to leave, and then noticed Jayce’s rising panic.
Salo narrowed his eyes.
“You are frightened.”
“Of course I am!” He snapped. “I’m- I’m god knows where, and- and might have time traveled, or something, I’ve been missing, and- and some Herald thing knows who I am? Fuck. Gods…”
“Oh, Jayce.” Salo chuckled. “The Herald should be the least of your worries. In fact- would you like to speak with him now?”
He dropped his face into his hands. “I- what?”
Salo’s head tilted back, skull twitching about unnaturally, before his posture sighed like new life had been breathed into him.
When he spoke, it was not with his own voice.
“ Jayce .”
Jayce’s head whipped up, and his mouth fell open in disbelief. It was unlikely, but he had almost expected to see his partner there. Though even less likely was the actual reality of the situation, which was that Salo was still there, but now smiling softly at him. His dark blue eyes now filled with faintly glowing swirls of iridescent technicolor.
“Viktor?” His mouth moved without meaning to.
“It is good to see you again,” Viktor’s voice lilted kindly from Salo’s mouth. Jayce shot to his feet, and his knees wobbled. His hand flew out to the side to keep balance.
“ Viktor -” His words were breathy and closer to a whine than he’d intended them to be. The world tilted around him, and he took a few desperate steps closer to Viktor’s voice. “I don’t- I have so many questions, I’m so confused, I-I’m- I’m so lost, Viktor.”
Salo’s body closed the distance between them, and he tilted his head in thought. His shiny, milky eyes were swirling with more colors than just silver. Jayce noted silver, turquoise, pink, and sage.“You are distressed.”
“Is it that obvious?” He managed weakly.
Viktor’s voice hummed, and his presence radiated a calmness that soothed some of Jayce’s anxiety. “You are not from here. The arcane has brought you to me.”
Salo’s gaze flickered over Jayce’s face. Viktor’s voice said: “You are not my Jayce.”
The words my Jayce sent a shiver down Jayce’s spine. “O-oh?”
“If it were not evident enough from your… clear confusion, then I would say that the fact that you look approximately five years younger than the Jayce I knew would be all the confirmation needed.” Viktor patted his arm, and then Salo’s body stepped away. “I would like to see you. Come to me. Please, see what I have accomplished. And, perhaps we may find a solution to your…displacement.”
“Okay,” he said, wearily.
Salo walked back to where he’d left the canisters, and picked them up.
Viktor’s voice murmured one last thing: “Thank you, Salo, for your . We shall see each other again shortly.”
Again, Salo’s face seemed to twitch and warp, and then the silver bled away, replaced by his normal, dark blue eyes. When he spoke, Viktor’s voice was gone.
“Please, follow me. I shall take you to The Herald,” Salo said calmly, dipping his head towards the doors. Jayce followed for lack of anything else to do. His mind swam.
The Herald must be Viktor. Viktor could speak through other people’s mouths. Jayce had been missing for ten months.
He dropped to his knees and threw up.
———
Of all the ways Jayce thought they might get to Viktor, walking through Piltover, across the bridge, and into the undercity was not one of them. Nor was anything else about what his city looked like.
It was crawling with enforcers. Much more than usual. There were guardrails everywhere, patrols on every corner, and, oddly enough, the flag of Noxus billowing in the breeze every few blocks. Jayce’s stomach was in his shoes, and despite being uncomfortable around the man, he clung close to Salo’s side. Viktor apparently trusted him after all, so until he could be with his partner again, this was the best he could do.
Salo did not make any attempts at conversation, and so Jayce kept quiet too. As they crossed the bridge, Jayce found it even more heavily guarded. They were let through with nods of recognition and respect, though Salo scoffed lightly, and rolled his eyes when the enforcer at the gate regarded them both with the word “Councillors.”
“I have not been in that city in well over a month, and yet these people still consider me a councillor, think me to be greater than them. They fail to see me as an equal, despite all I do to prove that I am.”
Jayce glanced sideways at Salo. The councillor he knew would never say anything like that. He had been proud of being better than others. He didn’t want to be equal to the people below him. It just cemented what he already believed: this world was very different from his own.
“You… want to be their equal?” He asked, rubbing his arms as they walked into the undercity proper.
Salo hummed. “The Herald released me of my flaws, and forgrave me of my sins. He freed me from the cruel beliefs I carried, of which there were many. When my eyes were opened to more than my own limited perspective, I realized how… how pitiful it was of me to hold status in such high regard.” His mouth turned down into a pointed frown. “With The Herald’s guidance, we may all be equal to each other. Wealth and fame clouded my sights, and it is only thanks to The Herald that I can see the truth now. I owe everything to The Herald.”
Jayce brushed his thumb over his bracelet. “Okay.”
Salo led him deeper into the undercity, cutting through alleyways and stairwells: taking Jayce lower and lower. They passed plenty of others, received stares and whispers, though were otherwise unbothered.
“The Herald’s influence is well known. We will not be harmed,” Salo told him as if he could read Jayce’s mind. Jayce swallowed thickly.
“Right. And what kind of influence would that be?”
A smile graced Salo’s lips. “The Herald helps all who seek him. He heals and evolves us to perfection. I was greedy and cruel and cowardly before I met him, a sad, broken creature. I could not walk, I could not make myself leave my bed most days without shimmer buzzing in my veins. Yet… when I brought myself to The Herald and begged for his gift, as if I had never committed a single sin, he welcomed me, and he saved me. Now, I live amongst the other Evolved in happiness and equality.”
Jayce’s mouth was dry. “...Okay.”
Salo gave him a smile. “Do not worry, Jayce Talis. Many are afraid of what they do not understand. When you see what The Herald has done for everyone, you will not be frightened.”
He swallowed thickly. “Right. I’m sure you’re right.”
The deeper they went into the Undercity, more anticipation and unease swam in his gut. It was hot, and humid, and stank with noxious factory fumes. This was the Grey that Viktor had mentioned before, the toxic air that ate up at people’s lungs. The streets were not busy now that they were deeper, but he was very aware of the eyes that followed their every move from windows and doorways and cracks in the walls. The city grew more rundown as well, most homes broken and ragged.
At a certain point, they must have reached the deepest point of the city. Here, people no longer had the option to hide from the Grey in their homes: the population seemed to be entirely homeless. People lined the narrow streets in tents and cardboard box camps, in crumbled buildings and gutted storefronts.
Jayce was deeply uncomfortable. Salo seemed completely unbothered.
There was distrust teeming in every pair of eyes he met, and yet, as Salo said, no one approached them or seemed to consider them targets. The Herald’s influence, he supposed.
“We are close,” Salo informed him. ‘Close’ meant that more and more injured and weak people filled the street. The crowd was decrepit and exhausted and altogether distressing to view. Jayce’s skin crawled, not out of judgement or pity, but of horror and shock at what he was seeing. He knew that this must be the worst of the worst of the undercity’s population. He wondered if these people moving in a slow crawl in the same direction as him and Salo had anything to do with the so-called healing that Salo claimed Viktor could do.
“So, uh, where is Viktor, exactly?” Jayce asked, fidgeting with his sleeves.
“He looks forward to seeing you. He will meet us at the gate,” Salo said, glancing at Jayce. “You look forward to seeing him as well. I suspect your reunion will be a happy one.”
“How do you know all this?” Jayce asked, brows creasing.
“Viktor tells me all I need to know through the lines of our connection.” He closed his eyes pleasantly. “He feeds me all necessary information. He watches you now. Though it is I you converse with, he is enjoying seeing you again, even if not yet in person.”
“He’s watching me!?” Jayce yelped, eyebrows shooting up.
“Of course. All I see, know, and experience belongs to him. I am committed to The Herald in all ways. My eyes are his eyes.” He smiled at Jayce. “And The Herald knows you well, Jayce Talis. I find myself… knowing you as he knew you. You are much easier to understand with nearly a decade of familiarity presented to me.”
“Ah,” Jayce said, voice shaking. Nearly a decade. Five years younger. Time travel was becoming increasingly likely. He blinked several times. Salo chuckled.
“Do not be frightened. All will be made clear soon.”
Jayce wished he was only frightened. There were a lot of emotions currently fighting for dominance. Panic seemed to be the most prevalent, though.
When Jayce finally laid eyes on another person dressed in white, he knew they had arrived. Salo and the other man nodded to each other in greeting. He held stacks of lumber in his arms, and joined them to walk.
“Jayce Talis,” the man spoke, warmth in his voice. “Oh, The Herald must be so pleased.”
“Indeed,” Salo agreed. “You feel his pleasure too?”
“Of course,” the man smiled at Jayce, eyes gleaming. “I wondered what the feeling meant. I’m sure all of us can feel his joy.”
“I certainly do.” Salo looked sidelong at Jayce again, and Jayce felt distinctly uncomfortable under their stares.
“Are we almost there?” He asked.
“Nearly,” Salo hummed. “Oh- oh!” His eyes shimmered happily, blue flickering to silver for a split second. The blue looked just as wrong as the silver did. “Huck is coming to meet us.”
“Oh, how lovely,” the other man said, smiling again.
Jayce rubbed the back of his neck. “Who- who is Huck?”
“The eldest of the Evolved,” Salo said, as if that meant anything. Thankfully, he went on to explain more. “He was the first of us to be blessed by The Herald. He is as equal as any of us, though I do believe that The Herald is fond of him.”
“The first will always be the most special,” the other man agreed. Jayce’s stomach turned.
They rounded a corner, and then, at the end of the stretch of road, Jayce saw a figure that he reasoned must be Huck.
Salo was dressed in his casual drapings and a hood, and the man beside them was in a loose shirt and shorts, but Huck wore a long tunic that flowed down to his knees. Gold metalwork and jewelry were laced over him. He stood with his hands politely crossed behind his back, smiling serenely.
“Salo, Dionne, and Jayce Talis. Welcome,” Huck greeted them when they were near enough. “The Herald sent me to ensure your safe travel. We are all so pleased to have you here.”
“Okay.” Jayce sweated. “And where is he?”
“Waiting for you,” Huck said with a twinkle in his eye. “Please, come.”
They walked for only a few more minutes, before turning, and then Jayce knew they were there. The undercity as he knew it petered off, and opened into a glowing cavern. It was a canyon, stretching tall, with a misty bluegreen atmosphere. Around them were sick and weak looking people from the undercity, being welcomed with open arms by friendly and gentle looking people dressed in the same white wrappings as Salo, Huck, and Dionne.
The ground turned sandy beneath their feet. Everywhere he looked, one of Viktor’s people was turning to look at him with a soft, pleased smile. He felt naked underneath their stares. Huck took his arm, giving him a warm look.
“The Herald is just this way,” he said gently.
“Okay,” Jayce managed. He didn’t bother trying to shrug off Huck’s hand. Salo had fallen back to follow behind him and Huck, and gave him a smile when Jayce looked over his shoulder. When he looked straight ahead again, there, underneath the arching entrance, was Viktor.
Or, at least- Jayce assumed it was Vitkor. In truth, the man about ten paces ahead of him looked almost unrecognizable. His hair was longer than he’d ever seen Viktor wear it, brushing just over his shoulders, and he wore a long dress of draped blue fabric and interlocking gold chains and gears. He had a loose grip around a staff that was almost as tall as him. (What Jayce could see of his skin- arms, shins, feet, neck -was purple. Jayce didn’t know how to process that yet, so he ignored it.)
There was the barest hint of a smile on his face, and Jayce knew as soon as he saw it, that this was really Viktor. It was the same sort of pleased look that Viktor gave him when Jayce could finish one of his sentences, or when Jayce tidied up the lab for him, or when he presented Viktor with lunch and a mug of coffee flavored sweet milk. A rush of emotion climbed his throat, and Jayce felt weak-legged at the sight of his partner.
“Jayce…” Viktor spoke, voice soft and careful. His gaze, like a hawk, focused on Jayce and Jayce alone, “Hello.”
Jayce broke out of Huck’s grasp, and ran to Viktor, tripping over his own feet and stumbling in the process. He came to a stop right in front of Viktor, and without thinking, gripped onto the arm Viktor wasn’t holding his staff with. (Purple arm. Viktor’s arms were dark purple. Shining and tangled like knotted steel.)
“Fuck,” he panted, “oh Viktor, am I glad to see you.”
Viktor tilted his head, the slight smile growing just barely. “Likewise.”
“I- I’m so confused, I have no idea what’s going on, or how I got here- I’m not in the right place, Viktor,” Jayce told him all at once, panic edging into his tone. “I don’t know how I got here. I- I’m not supposed to be here.”
“Yes, I gathered.” Viktor gently placed his hand in the crook of Jayce’s elbow, and his hand was cold, like the chill their work table took on in winter. Cold like metal, and dark purple.
Okay. Okay, Viktor’s skin was purple and metal. Sure. Alright.
“Walk with me, Jayce. It seems we have much to discuss.”
———
Viktor, always so considerate, took Jayce somewhere private, seemingly able to sense that Jayce would not want to be seen while in this disheveled, stressed state. They end up in a little domed greenhouse, stained glass refracting small colored squares around them, windchimes dangling overhead. The air was fresh and floral. Jayce collapsed onto a bench, and Viktor delicately sat beside him.
“I don’t know what’s happening.” He dropped his face into his hands, idly massaging his forehead as if it might be able to clear away his headache. He startled when he felt Viktor’s cool (metal) hand come to rest on his shoulder. Viktor never initiated contact like this, and yet here, he had done it multiple times now. Were this Jayce and this Viktor closer than he and his Viktor were? The concept seemed downright impossible; no one was closer than he and his Viktor were.
“I understand, Jayce,” Viktor said quietly. “I would like for us to try to piece this together, as best as we can.”
“Yes, please,” he agreed. He peeked up through the space in between his fingers. Viktor’s gaze was pointed away from him, watching the wavering of the big-leafed plants nearby.
“How old are you, Jayce?” He asked.
“Twenty six,” he replied automatically. “You already guessed that, though.”
Viktor hummed. His voice had an edge of something oddly mechanical. Jayce wondered if it had to do with the fact that his body was made of metal (and was also purple) now. “You are from about five years in the past. You would be… thirty two, now, I believe.”
“Okay, uh- alright.” Jayce ran a hand through his hair, further disturbing the neatness of it. The greenhouse was humid, even more so than the rest of the undercity and he could feel sweat forming at his brow. His hair curled at the ends just slightly.
“We have done quite a lot with our research in this time. Salo told me he discovered you at the Hexgates, yes? I am sure that was quite the shock.”
Jayce nodded, brows creasing. “It was successful, then?”
“Very.” Viktor tilted his head, long hair shifting a bit with the movement “I do not think the Hexgates were how you arrived here, however.”
“I don’t either,” Jayce said, rubbing his arm. “I was nowhere near our prototype back in, uh. My timeline.”
“Interesting…” Viktor squeezed Jayce’s shoulder, then retracted his arm (purple arm) (metal arm) (Jayce was struggling to process the changes to Viktor’s body). “I may have a theory.”
“Y-you do?”
“I can sense… an anomaly, of sorts. It clings to you.” Viktor’s brows pricked together. Jayce noted that, aside from the gentle smile he gave Jayce, this was the most he had emoted so far. “If I had to guess, I would say that my Jayce had interfered with the arcane, and some action he made swapped the places of two of you. I do not believe you would have yet harnessed the full abilities of the Hexcore in order to create such a reaction yourself, no?”
“No,” Jayce agreed, wiping the sweat off his brow. “The, uh. The Hexcore? What is that?”
Viktor hummed, smile fading. “It is not my intention to disturb your timeline more than necessary. That is not information you need to know.” He smoothed his hands down his tunic, turning his gaze back to the garden around them. “Until we figure out how to send you home, you may remain here. I will have someone find a place for you to sleep; we have plenty of space.”
Jayce blinked as Viktor stood up, quickly getting to his feet as well. “Wait, I can’t just stay with you? Where do you sleep?”
Viktor’s gaze flicked to him, something like surprise passing over his face. Had Jayce said something wrong? He stared back, his resolve beginning to wither away. The Viktor he knew would have been fine with sharing sleeping quarters with him- after all, they slept in the lab together all the time, and had shared a bed that one year at the Distinguished Innovators Competition. So surely, here, where Jayce was so far out of his depth, he would be willing to…?
“I do not sleep, Jayce.”
Oh. Well.
Jayce’s face twitched, drew together in disappointment and dismay. He chewed his lip, then tried to smooth his expression out as if unaffected. Viktor didn’t sleep now. As in, he purposefully deprived himself of it, or he simply did not need it? What did Viktor do then, if not sleep? How did he regain energy? What was his source of energy? If Viktor did not need sleep, then what other biological matters did he no longer need? The metal of his body, and his higher understanding of the arcane and Hextech were surely the reason for this. What had happened to him? Did it have to do with that Hexcore thing? Did it have to do with Jayce?
“I can hear you thinking, Jayce.”
He jolted. “You can!?” Jayce had suspected that Viktor had some sort of telepathetic ability now, but-
“I don’t mean literally,” Viktor amended, making Jayce’s train of thought puff away into smoke. “However, I like to believe that I have not yet lost the ability to read your facial expressions.” He quirked a brow up, and the expression was so painfully Viktor that it made Jayce’s chest ache. His eyes turned briefly gold, before melting back into opalescence again, and with it went the Viktor expression as well, replaced by placid neutrality. “You say more with your face, than with your voice.”
He exhaled a breath that was nearly a laugh. “You think so?” Jayce stared at Viktor for a second longer, and then looked away. He could not read Viktor’s expressions. Not like this. Viktor was quiet for a moment, then spoke again.
“I do not intend to be an object of study for you, Jayce. You have questions, many about me, but that is not what our time will be spent on.” He placed a hand on Jayce’s arm, and Jayce could feel the cold seeping through the fabric of his jacket. “The only job I have in mind is to continue my work helping these people, and to deduce how we might return you home. Is that understood?” Viktor said clearly.
“Yes. Of course, Viktor.” He bit his lip, then met Viktor’s eyes. “I won’t get in the way of your work. I’d… I’d really rather stay with you, though. I- I’m… this is all so.. Unfamiliar. And confusing. And, I just- I want something familiar.” He dropped his gaze, heart thumping. “It’s okay that you don’t sleep. I don’t care. I just want to be wherever you are. I don’t want to be alone.”
Silence stretched between them. Jayce tensed, waiting for rejection. Instead, Viktor gave a sigh that was more sound than breath, and squeezed Jayce’s arm before letting go.
“Yes. I suppose you may.”
That was all it took to have Jayce perking up. “Oh! Okay- okay, great.”
“I really must be getting back to my work, however.” He walked past Jayce, opening the doorway to the greenhouse and holding it for Jayce to exit through. “I will have someone show you around. I will find you tonight.”
Jayce nodded, eager. Viktor had only let the door shut for a second before his attention was being pulled as if someone called his name. There was no sound, though he straightened his posture and started off in a specific direction, on a mission of sorts.
Jayce felt his absence immediately. He already regretted agreeing to let Viktor go back to his work, whatever that work was, and he had half a mind to just follow- before he realized that he hadn’t exactly let Viktor do anything. Viktor had simply told him how it would be, and he had gone with it.
Brows furrowing a little, Jayce lingered outside of the greenhouse. The list of differences from this Viktor to his seemed to grow longer the more time he spent here. It wasn’t unusual for Viktor to tell him what to do, Viktor was very bossy after all, but it was out of character for those directions to lead them apart.
He and Viktor did everything together. Now they’d barely spent half an hour together before Viktor was being pulled away from him.
Jayce huffed out a petulant little breath, scuffing his shoe on the sandy pathway, deciding he’d do a little exploring on his own. When he looked up, however, he froze.
There were about twenty pairs of eyes all trained on him.
“Oh gods,” he muttered, wincing. His shoulders were tense as he warily started off down the path, though everywhere he went was the same. Heads swiveled as he walked, eyes locking onto him, staring until he was outside, following his body with their gazes. People stopped in their tracks, paused their little tasks, becoming entirely focused on observing Jayce.
He wondered if this was some kind of cruel joke.
Trying to ignore it, Jayce focused his attention on observing this place in its entirety. There was something eerily familiar about the aesthetic make-up of it, though Jayce couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It was certainly nothing like any of the architecture in Piltover or the undercity. Nothing like anything Jayce could recall from the journey he and his mother took during their immigration to Piltover, either.
The shapes were like the kind of geometry found in nature. Curling rings like shells or fossilized ammonites, round domes, stained glass, wind chimes, waving tents. The colors were largely turquoise and sandy white, matching tonally with the light, earthy neutrals worn by everyone present. There was a heady, pleasant aroma that hung in the air, floral and rich, and quickly Jayce was able to trace it to the vast amounts of yellow flowers blooming around the perimeter. He brushed his fingers over the soft petals, and noted distantly, that his hands were shaking.
“Jayce Talis?”
He looked over his shoulder. A woman with dark hair and golden gears woven into small braids stood behind him. “Would you like something to eat? The Herald thought you might be hungry.”
The Herald thought so, did he? Jayce stood. Her eyes were dark brown, not silvery like Salo’s had become when Viktor spoke through him.
Why did everyone call Viktor the Herald?
“Yeah, sure.” He dusted his hands off. “I have a few questions for you too, if you don’t mind.”
———
There were long, light wooden tables and benches in a clearing between tents. Food was passed around in bowls with cloth napkins tucked underneath them. Jayce sat in between a woman with a scarred face and a man with two prosthetic arms. He methodically lifted his spoonful of spiced, rich soup to his lips, brows furrowed in thought.
None of the people dressed in white ate. They carried around trays of food and drink and utensils, but the only ones that sat with Jayce at the table were people visibly not yet inducted.
He had gotten some answers from the woman who escorted him here. Her name was Ana. These were the things she told him:
- This commune was created by The Herald. He healed broken souls and broken bodies, gave them a quiet, safe place to spend their days, in return for their assistance in bringing in more people for him to save.
- When prompted about what sort of ‘healing’ Viktor provided, Jayce was told, quite simply, that with a touch, The Herald could cure all ailments. Jayce still was not certain what that meant. He vowed to see this for himself before forming a solid opinion on it.
- The members of the commune were all friends now. They shared skills, lodgings, memories. The Herald gave them a mental network of understanding, even gracing them with some of his own vast knowledge.
- When prompted what Ana meant by ‘vast knowledge’, Ana had looked at Jayce and told him that there was a film of magic coating Jayce’s body, radiating from him with a pulse that matched the heartbeat of the universe itself. Her words made him shiver. He decided he needed to speak with Viktor again very soon.
Ana stood several paces away now, laughing quietly with another young woman. They both wore short, sage green pants, and thin, white wrapped shirts. The glinting, gemstone finger prints on their faces shone like the stars above Piltover in the teal light of the commune. Jayce had no idea what time it was, but it must be nearing evening. It wasn’t as bright now as it had been when he arrived.
“You don’t look like you need healing,” said a gruff voice beside him. Jayce flinched, thinking for a second the man with prosthetic arms had been talking to him. But when he looked up, he found the man squinting at another man across from him.
“I don’t. It’s my daughter.” He had orange hair and a mechanical eye. “Sump sickness. They say the Herald’s gonna give her back her lungs.”
“I don’t buy it,” a blonde woman beside him said. “All too good to be true, I think.” Her hands shook wildly, and her eyes were veined with pink. Shimmer eyes, Jayce recalled blankly.
“No, no. It’s real.” The trio turned to look at the scarred up woman on Jayce’s other side. He was surrounded by the conversation. “I’ve seen him do it. Have you seen him do it, yet?” They all shook their heads. “I’ve seen it. It’s incredible. Like nothing… like really nothing I’d thought was possible. Eyes glowing white, wind rushing around. You really ought to see it.”
That sounded like, well, magic.
“Too good to be true,” the blonde woman scoffed again. “I brought my dad here, but, well. I’m not expecting much. It was his idea to come, but my hopes aren’t high.”
“My wife was on shimmer too.” They all looked further down the table to another lady beside the scarred up woman. “Hooked. Couldn’t do nothing without it, nothing with it.” She shook her head. “The Herald put his hand on her face, and it was like he sucked up all the withdrawal in her body. She turned healthy, happy. The light came back to her eyes.”
“And what now?” The father with orange hair asked. “She still okay?”
“Yes.” She stood up, tucking her spoon into the emptied bowl. “She wants to stay here, wants me to get my cough healed. I’m going to see The Herald tonight, and I hope he’ll bless me as well. We might finally be able to raise a child, now that she’s sober. I hope, at least.”
When she walks off with her empty dish, the folks around Jayce go quiet. Then, the blonde woman across from Jayce finally looked at him.
“And what about you? Here for yourself, or for someone else?”
Jayce blinked. The four people around him were looking at him now. He set his spoon down in his bowl, brows furrowing together. “I’m… I’m here for..”
What was he here for? Himself, to get back home? Viktor? Nothing?
“I… I don’t know. I guess I just don’t have anywhere else to go.”
The man with prosthetics hummed. “You don’t look like a Zaunite.”
“Zaunite?” Jayce asked. The man snorted.
“Yeah, thought so. You’re a topsider, aren’t you?”
Jayce bit his lip, then managed a weak smile. “Is it that obvious?”
The blonde woman gave a loud laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, it sure is. You’ve got a lot of nerve, Piltie. Coming down to the fringes, eating with a bunch of sump rats. If that Herald fella really is legit, then don’t you think you oughta go back where you came from and let him help the people who really need it?”
Jayce quickly shook his head. “No! No, I- I don’t want to be healed. I don’t need it. I just,” he flexed his fingers, stared at the wood grain, “I… I’m here for the- The Herald. I knew him. Before he started this. I need his help, but not the same way as… well. I’m still figuring it out.”
He was met with more than a few raised brows.
“You knew The Herald?” The orange haired father asked. “What do you mean ‘before’? He wasn’t always like this?”
“I assumed he was some kind of Ionian mage traveler type.”
“The Herald’s a Piltie?”
“No- no, Vi- The Herald is from the undercity, too. He’s a-” he wracked his brain for the term, not used to hearing it, but reminded of the one time Viktor called himself it. “He’s a Zaunite. I met him uh, in Piltover, but he’s from here. He’s like you all.” Good, they seemed satisfied by that. Jayce hadn’t ruined Viktor’s reputation yet. “He was- this is all new. I didn’t know… I don’t know how he became a mage. He wasn’t always one.”
“Interesting.” The blonde woman said, stroking her chin. “What’d you say your name was, Piltie?”
“Jayce Talis,” he answered. He was met now with several shocked expressions.
“Talis?” Gasped the man with prosthetics.
“The Man of Progress? You’re kidding.”
“Talis, as in, the Hexgates Talis? What the fuck are you doing here?”
There it was again, the Hexgates. These people all knew him, too… fuck.
Jayce rubbed a hand down his face. This was another theory he was forming. Five years into the future, it seemed like Hextech had truly taken on a life of its own in success. These people down in the deepest trenches of the undercity recognized Jayce by name alone.
“I- listen, none of that matters right now,” Jayce insisted. “I’m not that man. I’m not the- the Man of Progress, anymore. Or at least not for now. I just need to be able to talk to Viktor, and this is where he is, so. I’m not getting in the way of anyone being healed, I just need to be here with him. I swear it.”
The father and the blonde haired woman and the man with prosthetics all exchanged a look. The woman with the scarred face on Jayce’s left spoke up first. Jayce hadn’t realized she was still listening.
“I’m Cassidy. Word of advice, Man of Progress. Drop the last name while you’re here, if you don’t want to be Mr. Hexgates.” She gave him a level look, standing up with her empty bowl.
“Got it,” he said automatically, making a mental note of that. He could do that. He’d be just Jayce while he was in the undercity.
The blonde woman scoffed. “Mr. Hexgates. Hah . Councillor Talis himself, rubbing elbows in the trenches. I thought I’d seen it all.” She raised a singular brow, and the violet shimmer veins around her eyes flared a bit. “I’m Reggie. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Nigel.” The orange haired man nodded in greeting.
“Shade,” said the man with prosthetics. Jayce organized their names and faces neatly in his mind. He wouldn’t forget. If he saw them again here, he’d make sure he remembered.
Nigel stood up with a grunt, scratching his beard. “Gotta go check on my kid.”
“If I see you again, tell me how she is,” Reggie said, and Nigel gave her a nod.
Jayce scraped up the last of his soup, and swallowed it, standing as well. In what felt like a split second, Ana was at his side.
“Jayce Talis,” she said, eyes swirling with brown and silver.
“Just Jayce is fine, really,” he told her. Ana nodded.
“Of course. The Herald requested to see you. Shall I bring you to him?”
Jayce’s heart leapt. “Yes! Yes, please. I want to see him too.”
Reggie and Shade both chuckled at the table.
“Guess you weren’t lying about knowing him. I’ve heard he’s busy, everyone coming to see him. He doesn’t request anybody.” Reggie dropped her chin in her hand, raising her brows. Jayce shrugged, giving her a half smile.
“I told you.”
Ana gently took his arm, and began to lead him away. He gave a wave to what remained of his little group at the table. Reggie and Shade both waved back, before he was tugged past a tent and they were out of sight.
Jayce figured out where they were headed quickly. The crowd of tents and structures thinned out, a shallow incline leading up to the big, gleaming round structure that he seemed to be visible from everywhere in the commune. Was this where Viktor’s home base was? He didn’t sleep, but he must spend his time somewhere. This had to be it.
There was a large bell hung up beside the orb, and Jayce recognized the man he’d been greeted by- Huck -sitting cross legged beneath it. He didn’t see Viktor anywhere, though it should have been easy to. He’d only seen other people in white the closer he got to the orb, and Viktor made for a striking sight in that deep, royal blue.
When they were near enough, he noted that Huck’s eyes were shut and he seemed to be meditating. He didn’t react at all as Jayce and Ana passed by him. They reached the arching entrance to the orb, and Ana released his arm.
“Someone has brought a cot for you. The Herald informed us you would be staying in his private recharging zone. You must feel honored.” She bowed a little, which made Jayce’s face bloom with heat. Awkward. “There are fresh clothes for you as well. It is our true pleasure to welcome such an esteemed guest of the Herald. Please, make yourself at home. If you need anything at all, someone will be there to take care of you.”
“Right, okay.” His face was still hot with embarrassment. Too much. She was doing way too much. Viktor would be laughing if he saw Jayce right now, only he seemed to get how uncomfortable Jayce got when some admiring fan of Hextech spoke to him with so much reverence. Jayce did much better with approval than he did with adoration. “Thanks, Ana.”
“Of course.” She bowed a little again, and Jayce barely resisted wincing. He looked up at the orb as Ana left him, and Jayce let out a breath. The sandy ground crunched beneath his feet, and he registered as the texture beneath him changed to thin, golden lines like a thumb print, all worming their way in a sort of semi-flatness. The inside of the orb was empty, save for a white cot that would most definitely be too small for Jayce, and a neat stack of clothing. There was nothing else inside.
No Viktor, either.
He deflated, a bit disappointed that Viktor wasn’t here to greet him. It would be fine, though, he’d see Viktor later when he came back after finishing up his healing. That was what Jayce imagined his ‘work’ was, at least.
Jayce sat down on the cot and started tugging off his outer layers. He examined the clothing he’d been given. Lots of drapey fabrics. Sort of reminded him of what Huck and Salo had worn, though with more colors. They seemed a bit… fancier though. Definitely more intricate than what the rest of the commune wore.
Brown shorts, drapey fabric that hung around his neck and fell over his chest and past his hips in light beige, taupe, and… royal blue. Jayce’s face went hot. That was the same color Viktor had worn. Huck and Salo were only in that white-beige color. Jayce’s clothes had a lot more dangly, connected gold pieces too, shaped like rings and gears. Multicolored beads and teal sea glass connected to little strings of dark brown leather. And, even more embarrassingly, the house Talis crest emblazoned on a little gold pin that was clipped to the fabric of his hip. It all fit perfectly too. Jayce realized in flustered silence that these clothes had been made for him. There was no way they could have been prepared in a day, either. Viktor had had these ready, as if he’d been expecting Jayce. Likely, the Jayce from this timeline, not Jayce from five years in the past, but a Jayce nonetheless. Dressed like this, he would stick out like a sore thumb among all the other members of the commune, and in this blue, he was practically branded as being important to Viktor. It was both embarrassing and deeply appealing to him.
He couldn’t admire it for much longer though, because a softly cleared throat grabbed his attention. Backlit by soft, teal light, was Viktor in the entrance to the orb. He had a hand loosely wrapped around his staff. Viktor tilted his head slightly, gaze skimming down Jayce’s body, and then back up to his eyes.
“Good. My measurements were correct.”
“When did you have this made?” Jayce asked, even though that was the least important question he had for Viktor.
“I anticipated your arrival,” Viktor said in a frustratingly non-answer. He strolled inside, eyes not leaving Jayce. They were a silvery pink, hints of amber closer to his pupils. “The adjustments were done today. I just had to recall your sizes from your time. But it was not difficult.”
“It’s nice.” Jayce’s voice was rough. “Why the blue?”
Viktor’s expression was blank as he regarded Jayce. “You are here for me.”
“Well, yeah. But why the blue?”
The barest hint of a smile twitched at Viktor’s lips. “As I said. Because you are here for me.”
Jayce dropped back down onto his cot, and exhaled heavily. “I have a lot of questions for you.”
Viktor hummed. He continued past Jayce, and then lowered himself delicately to the center of the spiraling gold lines. “I know. You had a lot for Ana, but she was not able to satisfy your curiosity.”
“I was right, then. You can read their minds.”
“We are all linked together through the arcane. They can read mine just as I see theirs. We are all equals here.”
“But you’re their herald. And Huck was the first one, and Salo clearly goes out on errands for you.” Jayce paused. Took a deep breath. “And you dressed me differently, too.”
Viktor gave him a look. “We are equals here. Equals may still have different jobs. It is important to differentiate roles. It makes it easier to seek out whom you need.”
“I don’t have a job. Why do I need to be easy to seek out?”
Viktor regarded him carefully, then laid his staff on the floor beside him. “Our minds are not linked, yet. I need to be able to find you in a crowd somehow.”
A shiver went down his spine. “Ah. Okay.”
“You should rest, Jayce. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I would like to start discussing how to send you home as soon as the sun rises.”
“What about your healing?”
“There are many hours in the day. You will not be working for every second of it. You still need to eat. And I know you will want to take time to explore.”
Well, that was true.
“What about you? All you do is heal and work?”
“Before you arrived, all I did was heal.” He raised a brow at Jayce, and then closed his eyes. He seemed to be getting into the same meditative posture as Huck had. Jayce wondered if this was what he did instead of sleep. Did that mean that no one here slept?
“This cot is going to be too small for me.”
Immediately, Viktor’s eyes shot open. His irises visibly flashed golden for a split second, and there was irritation on his face that replaced the earlier knit brows and smiles as the most emotive his expression had been. “I see.” It smoothed back over, returned to its impassive state. “I can fix that for you. I will have someone bring something better.”
“No! No, it can- it can wait. It’ll work for tonight,” Jayce hurried to say. Viktor pursed his lips.
“As you wish. I will remedy it tomorrow, then.”
Jayce nodded, settling down onto the cot. He drew up the linen sheet over himself. Viktor closed his eyes again. “Goodnight, Viktor.”
“Goodnight, Jayce.”
Sleep came to him quickly. Apparently traveling through time and space really sapped one's energy. Jayce was grateful he wouldn’t be left alone with his thoughts.
———
The room swam like an ever shifting kaleidoscope. Viktor was at the center of it.
That was normal at least. He looked like he did in Jayce’s dreams. Like he hadn’t looked in years. Like Jayce had blinked and gone back in time. That was not normal. And Viktor was gaping at him like Jayce was the weird one here.
Another hallucination? A feverish vision? Jayce had thought he escaped the cavern, but perhaps he was still there, staring into the fire and watching his mistakes stare back at him in slideshow. The expression of shock and horror on Viktor’s face wouldn’t be out of place, in that case.
He staggers closer to Jayce, hand on his cane, other hand outstretched.“Jayce?” Incredulous. Jayce tries and fails to catch his breath. “What..?”
His chest fractures a bit. He had sworn it- but he can’t follow through. Not now. Not if this was the Viktor he was meant to stop. The one he was meant to kill. The months of hardening his will down in the ravine, the agony he endured to toughen up- it all slipped away the second Viktor’s fingers brushed over the roof of Jayce’s hand. He dropped to his knees in an instant, and Viktor flinched back.
“I can’t- I’m sorry,” he gasped, clutching his wrist. He could picture the older mage version of his partner looking at him in dismay. As if in response, his migraine pulsed through him like the crack of a whip.
“You can’t what?” Viktor asked, drawing closer again. He placed a delicate hand on Jayce’s shoulder. As if pulled by a magnet, Jayce buried his face in Viktor’s waist, clutching onto the fabric of his clothes.
“Kill you. I can’t do it.” He heard a sharp intake of breath from his partner. There was silence for a long moment.
“You are not my Jayce.”
My Jayce. The words sent another wave of heartbreak coursing through him.
“No. I’m not.”
“How did you get here?”
“I don’t know. I was supposed to go back to my own timeline.”
Another long pause. “I see.”
Jayce’s hands trembled, twitching and tightening their grip on Viktor’s pants. He waited.
“I am the cause of what happened to you, aren't I?”
Jayce almost smiled, despite everything. Viktor was so clever. It was no surprise that he was able to piece it together so quickly, even if it wasn’t entirely accurate.
“It was my fault. I started it all. You wouldn’t have… none of it would have happened if I hadn’t been so…” Jayce clenched his teeth, nuzzled his face into Viktor’s hip with a shuddering exhale. Even now, when he was so undeserving, so stricken with guilt, he couldn’t help himself from seeking out the comfort of Viktor’s touch. It was like a soothing balm after his months of solitude. The fleeting touches that the mage had bestowed upon him had been gone too quickly. This touch was prolonged, and it was making him dizzy with how pleasant it was.
“I was selfish. Self centered. Stupid.” He gritted his teeth. “It’s my fault. And I swore I would make it right, but…”
“You need to tell me what happened. What I did, Jayce.”
He shook his head. Heat was beginning to gather in his eyes, and he squeezed them shut tightly to try and hold the tears back.
Viktor settled a hand on one of Jayce’s shoulders, and the sound Jayce made was something between a gasp and a sob.
“Oh, Jayce…” Viktor whispered. “What did I do to you? Please, you need to tell me.”
He shook his head again, a little whine escaping him. He sagged close to Viktor, arms moving to wrap around Viktor’s thighs in a tight hug. He felt Viktor grasp onto his cane tighter, shift his stance a bit. The hand on Jayce’s shoulder slipped up into his hair, gently carding through the dirty, tangled locks.
That triggered the tears finally. He shuddered, and then the spilled out, hot, burning streaks down his face. “Viktor-” he choked, squeezed Viktor’s legs tighter. “Oh, gods, Viktor…”
“I’m here, Jayce. I’m not going anywhere.”
This was both the best and worst thing he could have said. Jayce let out another sob, the only thing in his mind being the retreating figure of his partner, newly back from the dead, emotions as drained away as the color in his eyes, leaving the lab, leaving Jayce-
“Please- I’m sorry, I’m so sorry- I just couldn’t lose you. It’s all my fault, I know it is, but I just- I couldn’t lose you Viktor, I’m so sorry-”
He could hear Viktor let out a heavy breath, and he knew he was making a scene, wished more than anything that he could just stop fucking crying, but he couldn’t. Not with Viktor in front of him again, so young, so healthy, so unaware of the mistakes they would make. The mistakes Jayce had made. And he was touching Jayce, petting through his hair, indulging his need to hold on and kneel at Viktor’s feet, and it was just too much.
“How about…” Viktor stroked Jayce’s hair, scratched gently at the scruff on the back of his neck. “We leave here. We can go to my apartment. You can get cleaned up, get some fresh clothes, some food and water in your stomach. Take care of you. And then we talk?”
Jayce whined. He didn’t deserve that. He deserved the cavern. He didn’t deserve these touches, much less Viktor’s kindness.
But, well. He’d said it himself. Jayce Talis was a selfish man. He didn’t even entertain the thought of rejecting Viktor’s offer.
“Okay,” he whispered. Viktor’s cool fingers brushed across his cheek, and he pulled Jayce’s face from his hip. Cradled his face in his hand. Jayce looked up at him, not wanting to imagine the state he was in. Viktor was frowning, brows drawn together. He was looking at Jayce like he was a frustrating equation. Jayce wished he was easier to solve.
Viktor’s thumb gently wiped a tear from his cheek. The act was so tender that more tears burned out of his eyes immediately after.
“You poor thing..” Viktor murmured. “We’ll fix this. Come with me.”
Following Viktor was the easiest thing in the world.