Sunset over Zaun

There was a time in life where, depending on where you were from, many would be excited about the prospect of being someone who could harness the power that comes with magic. At least, in Equestria that is.

In this place, Runeterra, Magic had shaped the world… but also left it’s own fair share of scars. Those who know its history are aware of the damage it could bring if not careful, but some heed no mind to such risks. In fact, for the longest of times, Piltover and Zaun remained mostly untouched by magic and the means to harness it.

That all changed when one man found a way to harness the arcane through pure science. And with it, the birth of Hextech.

When this conversation started, Ekko had a few things in mind to talk about. Inform Sunset that he was okay, that both the woman she bumped into and her accomplice were apprehended and, if it ever came up, answer any questions that Sunset might’ve had regarding what she heard Silco say.

All of that was thrown out the window the moment that she asked about the gemstone that was picked up. And when she recognized what it was.

“Woah, hold on a minute,” he blinked, rubbing his forehead a bit, “You’re telling me that this… is magic?”

Sunset nodded, “Yes, but this is different from anything I’ve seen before. This thing is brimming with mana. Massive arcane power condensed in a tiny space.”

The boy savior of the Firelights couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose as he looked back at the mage. “Okay, we’re going to have to take a step back for this to make sense for me. I don’t think I’ve ever had to ask this, but what sort of things when it comes to magic have you seen before?”

“That may take a bit to explain-”

“I got time,” Ekko insisted, pulling up a chair, “It’ll be a while before the ‘guests’ we brought in will wake up, so go for it.”

At this, Sunset looked around the room, noticing something in the back corner. A dusty old blackboard with some broken chalk. With a pull of levitation, the empty board slid across the floor towards them. The chalk floated in the air, before moving on its own at the motion of her glowing fingers.

“Back when I was little, when it came to magic, my teacher taught me that there were three ways that magic tends to show itself. The phrasing may be different, but the logic still applies,” The chalk continued to dance, before showcasing the word ‘POP’ on the board and splitting the three letters, “The first one you’ve already seen through me. Magic that’s channeled by people who can control it. How that magic takes form and how much they can do with it varies a lot, but you get the gist with what you’ve seen me do.”

“Okay, that’s simple enough, I guess.” Ekko scratched his head, “But how big is magic where you’re from, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Magic is about as deep of a field of study as engineering is for inventors on Topside. Some major historical figures where I’m from are actually powerful wizards or apprentices of said powerful wizards,” she then shook her head, trying to purge the thought from her mind and focus back on the here and now, “There’s even children stories, believe it or not.”

“Actually, I can believe it. The children in Zaun have a few tales of their own. Some of them are even on murals across the city. Maybe whenever we catch a break, we can share stories.”

Sunset can only chuckle, amused by the thought for the briefest of moments. But just as quickly, the moment passed and she moved on. “Maybe. Though, back on topic, the second category actually relates to what you happened to pick up. Objects that contain magical power.”

As the subject came up, Ekko picked up the sapphire orb from off the workbench. “To be honest, when we found this, it just looked like a fancy stone. Do you have any idea on what this could be?”

“Well, magical objects can vary depending on different factors. The amount of magical power, what its purpose is, those kinds of things,” She said, looking at the rock again for a bit more, “You know what this does remind me of, though?”

Ekko raised an eyebrow, folding his arms a bit. “You tell me.”

At that, Sunset turned the blackboard around and began to draw. At first, the boy couldn’t quite make out what she was trying to draw. Though, after a moment or two, a clearer picture was coming into form as Sunset drew out a rough picture of something the Firelights always used, “Remember when you were explaining to me how the dropboards worked and you told me that there was a source that powered it?”

“Yeah, the battery-” The moment the words left his lips, a theory quickly formed in his mind, “Wait. Are you saying-?”

That was all Sunset needed to hear, “Right now, it's a theory, but I think this is a magical battery and a very powerful one. I have no idea who in their right mind would be making these up on Topside or how many there are, but whatever they’re using them for-.”

“-Is probably the reason why that Piltie was so desperate to try and hide it.” Ekko grit his teeth, “Clearly, they know something about it and didn’t want it to fall into what they would call the wrong hands-”

That was when the mage let out a breath, “Hey, why don't we just not make any assumptions just yet? You yourself said that those guests you brought in won’t be awake yet. So, maybe wait to ask them before guessing anything.”

Despite his reservations, he knew that Sunset had a point. There was no purpose in thinking about ‘what ifs’ without concrete proof. So, for the meantime, his attention should be elsewhere. “You said that there were three? We talked about people already and also objects, so what’s the last one?”

“That’s one that’s rather rare, but does tend to happen on occasion back where I’m from,” Sunset sighed, flipping the board back to where she started as the chalk circled around the last letter. “Phenomenons caused by magic acting out on its own. Sometimes it’s the after effects of a massive spell, while other times it occurs naturally. This is something I don’t think will really happen here because the amount of magic here and those who can use it seems to be-”

“Almost non-existent?” Ekko interrupted.

“I wouldn’t say that. But more like… out of the whole city, there may be like one or two. I’m not ruling out the possibility of there being other mages down here, but either I’ve yet to meet them or they’ve done a very damn good job at hiding it.”

A valid point, especially considering the state of the Undercity as of lately. But that only left one last question on Ekko’s mind, as he held up the orb again. “So, regarding this, how dangerous do you think it is?”

Sunset could only shrug, “Honestly, I don’t know if I can really give you a solid answer-”

Before she could even finish, there was a knock on the door as it swung open. Another Firelight, this one in a bird mask with a long beak, was on the other side. “Chief, the guests are starting to wake up.”

“Already? Sheesh, I thought we would have a little bit more time,” he said, “Sorry about that, Sunset. We’ll try to pick this up later.”

“It’s fine. Don’t apologize,” she shook her head, before pointing to the orb, “Though, before you go, maybe put that thing in some kind of case? That way it doesn’t roll around anywhere.”

That had Ekko pivot from the door over to the workbench, pulling down a cylindrical bag from a shelf above a window as he opened it up. The interior had a lot of mechanical components, much to Sunset’s own surprise. As he dropped the orb inside, everything else began to lock into place as he pulled his mask back on.

“Alright, I’m going to go see what our guests have to say. Hopefully, this shouldn’t take long.” He said, pulling the bag over shoulder and stepping outside. Leaving Sunset in the workshop by herself, with a chalkboard full of notes from where she once belonged and nothing but time on her hands.

In the hours after talking with Ekko, the mage focused her time on other personal endeavours. He seemed to have the situation with the guests under control, but… there was something on the back of her mind that remained unresolved. All the talk about magic and her explanations to him had the subject resurface, and now that she had more time, it was better to address this now.

It had happened twice already today, and now she wanted to know what it was and what the hay was causing it before having to go out in the field again.

There were only a couple things that she had to go off of. The first was that it started happening after coming into contact with that person who bumped her in the alley. An early hypothesis on the matter was that it required some kind of physical touch for this to be triggered. But she was nowhere near that person in the slums and still had seen things.

So, the focus shifted from what triggered the reaction to what Sunset had seen. Less in a sense to understand the events themselves and more to look for patterns and similarities regarding what she witnessed both times. The more the subject was explored, the more she started to try and piece it together. Going from writing down notes on paper to erasing one side of the chalkboard and transcribing different possibilities.

The rest of the hideout outside of the workshop was a blur as time passed, for Sunset was nothing but persistent on this matter. She needed to know what was the cause of this, and if the mage could determine one, then she could find a way to get it under control.

Though, hours of persistence and a drive to understand couldn’t help her against one other caveat. That being the need to sleep. And despite what Sunset wanted to accomplish, her body said otherwise as she fell down onto a makeshift cushion on the floor and let sleep drift her away.

Now, ever since she got here, most of her dreams were not that memorable. Most of the time, it would feel as if everything would fade to black, and then she would wake up the next day. This time though, something was different.

Instead of pitch black, it was a blinding white all around her. She couldn’t see anyone or anything else, but can’t help but feel as if she wasn’t alone. The fur on the back of her neck stood up as a cold shiver went through her.

Curious. One not from here, yet you hold the gift.

Her ears twitched, turning around to try and perceive if someone was speaking. But in a shock, it wasn’t someone that was talking, but… something. A strange shape, resembling a dodecahedron with other markings around it. Markings on the outside that looked like biological tissue, being warped and changed. Arcane runes floated overhead, none of which in a language that Sunset could even comprehend.

“What… are you?”

Something in us changed. It said, ignoring the question entirely. The room started to glow bright, forcing Sunset to shield her eyes. All we know is that we are of the Arcane… and soon, we will wake.

In a split second, the mage felt as if she was shot out of a cannon as the force against her body was enough to startle her awake. There was no telling how long she slept for, but the Firelights outside the hideout were buzzing brightly again, much like the first time. Things were a bit blurry as she tried to wrap her head around everything.

Only to be interrupted by the sound of an unfamiliar voice nearby. “Oh sockets, someone’s been rather hard at work here. Such simplified, yet profound magical theories. Yet, what does this all mean?”

As her vision cleared, she could now see what looked like a very short figure. Almost half of her height, but with a lot more fur and very long ears. But the clothes they wore were immediately recognizable.

They were wearing a uniform that was Piltovan blue. What the hell was a Piltie doing down here?!

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Wha-?”

Instinctively, Sunset let magic glow from her horn and hands as the stranger turned around. Their eyes widened, not just at the sight of her, but what she was doing as their gaze shifted from her to the magic around her hands.

Things only got less tense when the mage actually heard a voice that she recognized from the other side of the room, “Oh great, I knew I was forgetting something.”

At first, Sunset was relieved to hear that and went as far as to stop channeling her magic. But when she turned around to see them, that relief turned into flat out horror when she found that Ekko was much worse for wear, had several injuries all over his body, was leaning on a crutch in one arm, holding his board in another and his ankle was wrapped in bandages.

“Sunset, before you ask-”

“Dear sweet Celestia, WHAT THE BUCK!?!”

By this point, Sunset was now back on her hooves as she paced in front of the chalkboard. Ekko was resting on the couch that she passed out on. All the while, this newcomer (who she didn’t even know the name of) was on the chair that was by Ekko’s workbench.

“So, let me get this straight… you had a talk with the guests we had, and learned that the woman who caused a fight at the Last Drop was a childhood friend that you assumed was dead.”

“Much to my own surprise, yes.”

“You take her and her ‘friend’ back up to Topside, only to almost get shot by enforcers, get in a fight against and blown up by The Jinx, and you get your leg busted up in the process.”

“More or less. Still hurts like hell though.”

“And the only reason why you’re back is because…” Sunset paused, before looking over at the newcomer, “I’m sorry, but I never got your name.”

“Oh, it’s Heimerdinger.” the newcomer replied. But the name was enough in order to have a lightbulb go off in the mage’s mind.

“Heimerdinger… as in the Council member?”

The figure looked around the room for a brief second, before letting out a deep sigh. “Like I told Ekko earlier, it’s just Heimerdinger now.”

That left more questions than answers, but Sunset chose not to pursue that matter. “And he helped you get back… Ekko, I’m not to question you, but when you do insane shit like that, you know I’m going to get worried,” her attention then shifted back to Ekko, and it was now that she noticed the lack of something on his person, “Where’s that container you had earlier? The one that held the orb?”

“Last I remember, I gave it to Vi. I thought it would be better in her hands then have it fall into that of Jinx.”

That was a valid point. Though, the mention of this had a much different reaction from that of Heimerdinger. “My apologies, what orb are you referring to?”

Sunset looked over to Ekko, before he chose to answer, “The other day, we came across this round sapphire blue stone. Sunset felt that it was magical, so-”

“You two found a Hextech Gemstone?”

Almost immediately, Sunset and Ekko looked back at one another, before the mage looked back at him. “You know what this is?”

“Why of course! Hextech was a creation by one of my former pupils. The reason why it works is because the Gemstones are what powers it.”

Immediately, Sunset couldn’t help but feel that her brain was going into overdrive. This was the exact same thing she was theorizing almost a day ago when they had the stone. Now, it had just been confirmed to be true, by a former council member who knew the person who invented it.

But that left another question on Sunset’s mind. “Mister Heimerdinger, do you know why a Hextech Gemstone would be floating around inside the Undercity?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, I’m afraid,” the council member shrugged, “Though, if we may change the subject, I’m more curious about you Miss Sunset. For one thing, out of all the things I expected to find down here, this hideout and a mage is not one of them. If it’s okay with you, I like to learn more about-”

“What, like my life story?”

“Only if you wish to share it.”

Sunset was really unsure of what to do. For one thing, the story of how she got here was something she never really wanted to just tell people outright. Especially with how complex and confusing it was. On the other hand though, despite only knowing them for a short while, Heimerdinger was the one who helped save Ekko’s life and get him back home.

If Ekko was able to trust him… then maybe she can too.

“Well, let’s say that my story started with a very bad decision I made.”