Chapter Text
When the fish cannery exploded, Marcus was right nearby. With a deafening explosion and a dazzling blue flash, Marcus instinctively hid in a corner. The smell of burning metal mixed with rotten fish in the air, stinging his nose.
The first thing he saw was a monster lying on the floor, with purple veins bulging grotesquely. Marcus gasped in shock.
At first, he didn't recognize it, but when he noticed similarities between the monster and the bar owner he had tried to arrest half a day ago, his eyes widened in horror. The monster's face still bore his distinctive mustache and beard. Fortunately, it lay still as if dead, and his daughter was wailing over what was once her father.
Then a small blue-haired girl ran to her sister, shouting something. Her bright and cheerful voice, as if seeking approval and praise from a mother, sounded almost bizarre in the dreadful surroundings, and the content must have been even worse. It drove the pink-haired girl completely mad. She snapped the blue-haired girl and turned away. The young girl's pleas for forgiveness and begging her sister not to abandon her, to come back, echoed loudly in the silent space.
Suddenly, Marcus realized. The blue light explosion matched the testimony he had heard before. The reason he came down to the underground city, the start of all this bloody disaster. Could that little girl really be the culprit? His hand unconsciously moved towards his weapon.
The pink-haired girl staggered near Marcus's hiding place but didn't notice he was hidden. Up close, her body was covered in wounds, and he was amazed that she was still standing. Finally, when she thought she was alone, the girl hugged herself and began to sob.
Before Marcus could feel sympathy for her, he noticed a man approaching the blue-haired girl, who was still crying breathlessly looking for her sister. The dangerous man was slowly approaching the girl with subtle steps, hiding his hands behind his back. Surely, those hidden hands must be holding a weapon to kill the girl. Marcus's heart started beating rapidly, and cold sweat formed on his forehead.
The pink-haired girl also noticed the man approaching her sister and tried to move to save her. When Marcus saved that girl, grabbing her just before she ran straight into her own death and knocking her down, it was purely instinctive, his muscle memory doing the action. He quickly rushed to the pink-haired girl and wrapped his arms around her waist. The girl tried to resist, but Marcus swiftly took out a drug-soaked cloth from his pocket and covered her nose and mouth. At the same time, he precisely pressed the nerve at the back of her neck. Her body went limp and collapsed in his arms.
With that, he lifted the unconscious girl and quietly left the underground city. To say that moving the unconscious girl to his basement was difficult would be an understatement. At first, he was surprised by the girl's light weight, but the unconscious body kept slumping and her head lolling, forcing Marcus to move with extreme caution. Throughout the journey, Marcus repeatedly checked if she was still breathing and if anyone was following them.
The disaster that had occurred over the past half-day had really blown his mind. All that blood and death and explosions and monsters... Marcus wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. Marcus hadn't sorted out his thoughts yet. He couldn't leave when the living proof of the crime he committed was unconscious in his basement. He hadn't even reported Grace's death yet. The bodies of his dead colleagues would still be lying there. He just nervously shook his leg, grateful that his daughter was sleeping deeply in her cradle upstairs.
Ren, his daughter, was an angel. What had he done to get her? Everything. He probably did all he could. His ex-wife was a well-educated middle-class girl who didn't know what poverty really meant until she experienced it firsthand. Love withered quickly in poverty, and everything she could no longer enjoy drove her mad.
The baby in her womb made things worse. The first pregnancy was a terrible wait, and the changes in her body accelerated her depression. The young couple fought almost every day. Marcus apologized to her, promising that he was working hard and that his salary would increase soon when he got promoted, but it wasn't enough to appease his wife. Eventually, she came to think she had been tricked into marriage and reported her situation to her parents. And she left, leaving behind only the still nursing baby and Marcus.
Marcus recalled that day. It had been a day like any other. He had returned home at dawn as usual. As he entered the house, an unusual silence enveloped him.
"Misa?" he called. There was no answer.
He headed to the baby's room. Ren was sleeping peacefully, but there was no trace of Lisa anywhere.
Filled with anxiety, he searched the house and found an envelope on the kitchen table. With trembling hands, he opened it to find divorce papers and a letter.
'Marcus, I can't take it anymore. I never wanted this life. You'll have to raise Ren. I... I just need space to breathe. I'm sorry.'
At that moment, Marcus's world crumbled, but he couldn't afford to fall apart. Now he had to raise his daughter alone. He fueled his anger towards the absurd world into hard work. He volunteered for the tough jobs that everyone else avoided to support his child and earn money for the nanny. He worked overtime every day, leaving work at dawn with nosebleeds.
And look. This is the reward he got.
A small rat, all beaten and soaked in blood and pus.
Should he have tied her up? Maybe he should have. As soon as she regains consciousness, she will try to bite him to death. Like a ferocious beast. Just as Marcus was about to turn to find a rope, when the girl's body trembled and her eyes opened with a small groan, Marcus didn't know what to expect. His hands were trembling, and his mind was filled with conflict.
The girl's large grey eyes were clouded with confusion and fear, but there was no anger there. She looked so small. Just a frightened child. Only then did he realize how young she was. She couldn't have been more than 15 years old.
Now her whole body was shaking, and her lips were wide open, but no sound came out. The silence was so tense that it strained Marcus's nerves, but he dared not break the silence first.
And finally, sobs leaked from the girl's open mouth, and her hands strongly gripped her hair as she curled up her body and began to sob in earnest. Marcus could do nothing but watch.
Among the beast-like sobs coming from the girl's mouth, he caught a few words. Her head hurt terribly, and she couldn't remember anything. Not even her own name.
Huh, had the girl lost her memory?
Leaving behind the disaster she had experienced, the family she had lost, all those deaths, her brain chose to delete it. How simple and convenient! Marcus couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
Marcus's original purpose was to catch the mastermind behind the explosion in the name of justice and put them in jail, but in the end, the real culprit had died. If he arrested this girl instead... Marcus dropped the thought. This girl wouldn't survive even a day in prison. Marcus couldn't bring himself to do that. After all, he too was a father with a daughter.
Marcus carefully leaned closer to the girl, like a trainer trying to soothe an injured beast. Marcus put his hand on her shoulder, and immediately felt her tense muscles twitch. The girl's head turned towards Marcus, and he could smell blood, dust, and fear on her. Marcus began to fabricate a lie mixed with a little truth.
"Are you coming to your senses now? You were caught up in the explosion. And your family... didn't survive. I rescued you and I'm going to be your guardian from now on."
The girl's voice was cracked and trembling.
"Who... who are you? Who am I? Where is this?"
Marcus took a deep breath in and out. The damp air of the basement filled his lungs.
"I am Marcus, an enforcer of Piltover. And your name is..."
Marcus hesitated for a moment. The girl's large grey eyes were looking at him. There was fear in those eyes, but also a faint glimmer of hope. Marcus made a decision.
"Your name... it doesn't matter now. You're in a safe place."
The girl looked around in confusion. The darkness and dampness of the basement seemed to make her even more uneasy. Marcus bit his lip as he watched her reaction.
"You'll have to stay here for a while. I'll take care of you."
There was a coldness in Marcus's voice, but also a slight tremor. He turned away from the girl and headed for the stairs.
"I'll be back soon. Don't move."
He closed the door and went upstairs. His footsteps were heavy as he climbed the stairs. His mind was filled with complex thoughts. He wasn't sure if what he had done was right. But at this moment, he felt he had to protect this girl.
Marcus returned to his room and let out a deep sigh. He looked at Ren's face, peacefully sleeping, unaware of anything. In his eyes, as he vowed to protect his daughter from this dirty world, was a cold determination along with a faint hint of anxiety.