» Outside of the Southside tower
Zeri had had enough of her terrible ideas.
She was four storeys up, edging her way across one of the decorative ledges that encircled the tower's entire exterior.
It was a very thin ledge.
As someone who'd lived with her feet on the ground her whole life, this was single-handedly the most terrifying thing she'd ever done. Dizzy couldn't even come close to describing how she felt when she let her eyes stray downward to the street below.
The admittedly pretty sight of the overdeveloped industrial district from so high up didn't help assuage her nerves in the slightest.
At this height, she was virtually level with the massive ventilation ducts which peppered the Southside cavern's north wall. The light cold breeze they sent brushing against her exposed neck wasn't helping calm that feeling either.
"Actions have consequences," Zeri muttered through gritted teeth, forcing her gaze to the right. She'd have to deal with hers.
A barred, blacked-out window lay there ahead of her across the ledge, looking equally as impenetrable as the rest of them did. Why exactly did she even come up here again?
Fortunately for her, Zeri didn't believe anything was impenetrable to her now.
Her fingertips glittered with power as she raised them toward the closest bar. Tiny streams of blinking electricity arced downward from her extended digits, licking the bar's rusted surface.
She grabbed the bar tentatively, her grip turning rigid as the flesh of her hand began to burn with electrical power. It was painful, but that was all.
Zeri swung around, using the bar as a pivot and coming face to face with the window's entirety. The air time she achieved with that one fluid motion made her heart stop. She did not look down once.
The stained-glass panes beyond the barred window struggled to reflect the greenish light emanating from her aspect.
The only sound she could hear coming from behind the glass and its obscuring curtain beyond was the moderate hum of heavy industrial machinery. It wasn't an unusual noise—not for a building in Southside.
The more time Zeri spent listening, the more tempted she became to let her gaze stray downward. She sucked in her bottom lip and bit down on it indecisively.
"Damn it then," she hissed, gritting her teeth once more as she ramped up the power that was already coursing through her hand.
The surface of the bar enclosed within her palm cracked immediately, its brittle surface simply giving way beneath the drastic temperature change.
Zeri needed more though. More damage.
Her hand squeezed tighter as her aspect's power shone through her skin. Its green lustre sank outward from the skin of her fingertips, slowly infecting the flesh of her hand.
The section of the bar enclosed within her grasp was reduced to a molten slop within seconds. The skin of her palm seared with pain.
The boiling iron dripping off her closed fist hissed as it splashed onto the dark stone of the window ledge below.
"Alright," Zeri murmured, flexing her grip for a second before stepping up onto the window's ledge. "Half of one done. Four and a half more to go."
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» In Piltover's Industrial district
"I see."
Callian's gaze didn't leave the woman sitting opposite him as she contemplated his story.
A set of piercing blue eyes found his own not even a moment later.
"You do know don't you?" the woman asked, placing her teacup back in its saucer and leaning back in her high-backed chair. "That I don't give a damn whether this fairytale you've told me is true or not."
"Naturally," Callian replied, his face as impassive as ever.
The woman's gaze turned disgruntled. "I do admit that your proposition has quite a bit of merit to be had—if it turns out to be true that is."
"It does," Callian agreed.
Camille actually frowned as she eyed the man sitting across from her. "It also turns out that you are quite an irritating person," she mused, her blue eyes finding the wooden mask that covered half of the man's face. "And an even more irritating business partner."
"I have been told as much."
"Do you always speak so plainly or are you simply trying your best to irritate me?"
A ghost of a smile traced Callian's face.
"Perhaps."
Camille pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration before fixing him with a hard stare.
"I see no loss at your joining of the expedition to Shurima—though I must warn you, I do not take offence lightly. If you fuck up even once or if I get the slightest hint that you have not been entirely honest with me I'll have you thrown off the ship immediately. Is that clear?"
"Clear as crystal," Callian replied, his armoured fingertips drumming lightly upon his armoured kneecap.
"Good," Camille said, snapping her fingers toward the office's ornate wooden door. "Then get out. And this time do try not to scare the wits out of my attendants on the way there."
The man stared at her for a moment longer before nodding his head in a measured acquiescence. He could clearly see he would get no further than he already had today.
Callian got to his feet at the woman's dismissal and silently strode toward the exit, carefully replacing his chair against the wall on his way out.
Only after Camille watched the office door fully close did she allow her ironlike facade to drop.
After an uncharacteristic moment of hesitation, she too got to her feet before making her way over to stand before the room's open window.
The smoke churning from the many chimneys of Piltover's industrial district curled upward into the clear blue sky above. The bright sunlight beaming down through the window warmed her skin in a way that was almost comforting. Almost.
She tutted sharply, turning her gaze away from the outside world.
"Not enough," she muttered.
A few hours ago and she would have confidently named this district as humanity's greatest technological achievement. History was made here.
Now all it amounted to in her eyes was simply that. Not enough. Not enough for even a hint of what was to come—if that man's story held true.
And how could it not be? How could it not be after what he had told her? Nobody knew of that promise but them. And them alone.
Hakim had passed away long ago. She had seen to that fact personally. That man had left a hole in her heart that simply could not be allowed to fester any longer—for her own greater good.
If he'd told anyone… No. Uncertainties had no place in her mind.
Whether "Callian's" own story held true or not didn't matter. Business was business, and he'd made her an incredibly enticing offer. The sizeable down payment of some very important information was simply the cherry on top of this whole fiasco.
Camille's eyes narrowed with fury as her gaze turned downright predatory. The muscles in her jaw spasmed with a quiet anger as her teeth practically cracked from the effort of restraint.
Yes. The truth of that half-man's story was of no matter to her now. Because as of this moment onward, she had a new goal. One that required her full and undivided attention.
She had a brother she needed to kill.
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〘 A/N: Shorter chapter than usual I guess. But shorter is better than non-existent, right chat? 〙