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The last thing Jayce Talis felt before dying was everything.
He physically felt himself be ripped from his body, the warm comfort of his own skin being replaced with a sensation akin to that of water so hot it circled back around and became cold.
He was flying— soaring, actually. And as he traveled farther and farther away, he felt his humanity torn between those still alive.
A newborn’s first breath.
An old man’s shaky exhale as he closed his eyes for the last time.
Life and death. It pounded in his ears like a heartbeat, constantly starting and stopping with each cycle.
It was over as soon as it began.
The pounding stopped. The wailing of a baby in his ear faded. He felt grass against his palms and his eyes snapped open.
The brightness made him wince as his temples throbbed. He struggled to his feet, not noticing the ease at which he was able to get up. As soon as his surroundings processed, he came back to himself in a panic.
He was exactly where he had been when he closed his eyes. The clouds, once stormy, were now white and innocent. Looking down, he could see Piltover.
Everything was different somehow. Even from where he stood on the Hexgate, he could notice that.
Below, no buildings were in ruins. No smoke swirling up into the air. No armed forces he could see below.
What had happened?
The memory came back to him so quickly he nearly keeled over, groaning in pain as bright images flashed behind his eyes.
Him and Viktor. They’d held the hex rune crystal together while Viktor released his army’s souls. The fear Jayce had felt was so vivid in his mind, yet it felt like it had happened years ago.
Is that why he was here now? Was he back in the place he’d been stuck in for months?
Jayce took a step closer to the edge, eyes squinting as he searched for those husks of people he’d seen before.
This couldn’t be happening again. He’d nearly died last time. He couldn’t do it again. He couldn’t.
“...Jayce?”
The voice didn’t even make him jump. The familiarity of it didn’t calm his nerves as it used to.
When he’d been stuck in that cave, he saw Viktor often. In the reflection of the water, flickers in the fire. He’d cry out to him, begging to him to save him somehow. He’d beg to other people, of course. God, mainly. It was as if in those quiet moments alone, Jayce had turned to praying to a god he didn’t even believe in for some sort of comfort. He would’ve done anything to be free.
Yet, God never answered. And neither had Viktor, he’d just stared at him with such warmth that Jayce knew. He wasn’t real.
Jayce had been alone.
And, he still was.
The sight of Viktor, looking as he did the same day Jayce had first laid eyes upon him, made Jayce want to rush over and hug him. Feel his warmth. Know that he was real.
But, he wasn’t.
Viktor looked at him, sympathy turning to concern when Jayce said nothing. He just stared.
“I need to get out of here.” Jayce looked away, eyebrows furrowed as he began to scan this new version of Piltover below.
“We are here, Jayce. We did it.” The sound of Viktor’s voice, clear and without that robotic undertone he had gotten accustomed to hearing, made Jayce flinch as if he had been slapped.
“We messed up. Somehow, I’ve gotten stuck here. In a different universe. And you’re—” Jayce waved a hand aimlessly,”I don’t even know what happened to you. I can only hope it wasn’t painful.”
“Jayce—”
“Shut up, V. I’m trying to think,” Jayce hissed, beginning to pace. Viktor had talked to him often, before. In that cave. Most of his comments were snarky and unhelpful, Jayce came to learn.
Before, in that post-apocalyptic world, he’d found Viktor. If he was there, he had to be here. Wherever here was.
Jayce.
He’d likely be somewhere familiar. Their old lab, perhaps?
Jayce.
Or maybe somewhere in the Hexgate building. It was a big place, he’d have to look for a while.
JAYCE!
“What?” Jayce turned around to face‘Viktor with such ferocity that he stepped back with widened eyes.
Jayce froze, yell catching in his throat. The Viktor that had followed him around before had never done that. He’d just stare, unimpressed as if saying ‘that’s all?’. Even when Jayce had gotten angry, punching the side of the cave until his knuckles bled. Nothing.
“Jayce. We did it. We saved everyone, remember? We held the hex crystal, and— and we ended up here. I don’t know how. But, I’m here. We’re here.”
Jayce shook his head rapidly, the thought too much to bear.
“How? You couldn’t have lived. Hextech was the only thing keeping you alive,” Jayce’s voice quivered, shoulders sagging weakly.
“I never said we were alive,” Viktor murmured, eyes scanning their surroundings. Even he sounded exhausted.
“I- I don’t—”
“Can’t you hear it?”
“Hear what?”
“Listen.”
Jayce was quiet. For a moment, there was nothing. Then, the thrumming came all at once. It was a dull hum, coming from the very ground he stood on. He could sense it below, down in Piltover. It was steady, reminding Jayce of a-
A heartbeat.
“They’re alive,” Jayce choked out, crumbling to his knees. The pounding faded as his thoughts began to swirl again.
“We did it,” Viktor whispered, coming to stand beside Jayce.
“How do I know you’re real?” Jayce’s voice was broken, breath coming out in uneven gasps.
A moment of silence. Then—
“Do you remember all the late nights we had in the lab? You got so tired, you were practically asleep on your feet. But, still, you kept trying to write down your thoughts. We always laughed about it in the morning, your scribbles that made no sense,” Viktor’s voice was soft, encapsulating Jayce like a warm blanket.
And, Jayce did remember.
“I always said that I must’ve been onto something. If only we could decode it,” Jayce chuckled weakly, head bowed.
“And, do you remember, when you told me ‘I love you’ instead of ‘goodnight’,” Viktor snorted, then continued,”We were both so flustered. It’s a habit for you. You told me, it’s like a family tradition. You practically tell your mother you love her every other sentence. But, still, it embarrassed you. You apologized profusely for a week while I just laughed.”
The story was true, but a certain part made him pause. His mother. Was she okay? Would he ever see her again? And what about everyone else? Mel? Caitlyn?
He didn’t feel the tears streaming down his face until Viktor gently wiped one away, kneeling beside him.
“It is you. I don’t understand. Why are we here? Back in Piltover—”
“I don’t understand it either. But, we’ll figure it out. We always do.”
Jayce looked over, gaze blurry as tears clouded his vision. Viktor was here. Not that robot, not a figment of his imagination.
How he had missed him.
Before Viktor could react, Jayce was wrapping his arms tightly around him. The warmth he had been anticipating, craving, for months, wasn’t there. But, Jayce didn’t even care. Viktor was here.
“Why didn’t you give up on me? I was so wrong. So, so wrong,” Viktor’s voice was muffled into Jayce’s shoulder.
“I knew you were still in there. You always were a hell of a fighter,” Jayce chuckled, voice cracking with emotion.
“Thank you.”
The two sat there in an embrace for what felt like hours. It could’ve been hours, and Jayce wouldn’t have minded.
When Jayce leaned back, realization dawned on him.
“Your leg. Viktor, why didn’t you say anything?” Jayce sprung up, leaning down to haul Viktor up with him.
When Viktor didn’t even flinch, Jayce’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Your brace… your— your cane…”
“I must not need them anymore,” Viktor murmured, shifting his weight from leg to leg experimentally, ”And, last I checked, you had a brace as well.”
Jayce gaped, looking down at his own leg. How could he have not noticed? Since breaking his leg, it had been a constant thrumming pain he’d gotten used to. His eyes snapped back up, feeling Viktor’s gaze on him.
“Viktor, this is amazing, I don’t even…” Jayce trailed off, stepping forward and placing a hand on Viktor’s shoulder. Viktor looked up, surprisingly somber, “What is it?” Jayce blanched, looking down.
Viktor was quiet for a moment, and Jayce didn’t pry. Just as he was about to change the subject, Viktor spoke quietly.
“I almost lost all my humanity. And, now, here… this… vital part of me is missing. It’s stupid, that I would miss something that used to make me so miserable—” A humorless laugh “—I just wish I was me again.”
“I don’t think your limp is what made you you. Sure, it’s a big part of who you are. But, other people don’t just pay attention to that-”
“What people?” Viktor interrupted him, tone quiet but reprimanding.
“Mel! And people on the council too!”
“I doubt they would’ve realized I was there if you hadn’t introduced me.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true. And now what? I hurt all those people. I’m not a person who you try and look for the good in.”
“You truly believe that? It wasn’t your doing. You were manipulated. I don’t blame you.”
“Of course you don’t blame me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Jayce’s voice was too loud in the still air and he paused, inhaling deeply. Here he was, face to face with the person he’d been hallucinating for months, hoping to see him again. And now, finally together, they were arguing.
“I don’t want to fight you, Jayce,” Viktor messaged his temple tiredly. They’d both been through a lot.
Jayce’s eyes caught on Viktor’s face as he turned away. He couldn’t even articulate what he wanted to say. In a perfect world, he would’ve confessed everything on the spot.
Viktor, when I was down in that cave, I hallucinated you and your voice for months. You were the only thing keeping me feel sane. Without you, I would’ve started to forget who I was. When I looked at my reflection, your face blended together with mine.
“What is it, Jayce? You’re clearly thinking about something.”
Jayce startled, eyes instinctively raising to meet Viktor’s. He must’ve been silent for longer than he thought.
“It’s… a lot. I want to say a lot.” Jayce ducked his head, feeling weirdly exposed.
“If I’m right and we are dead, I think we have plenty of time.”
Jayce huffed, reluctantly sitting down and easing onto his back,”I— I didn’t tell you a lot of what happened to me.”
Viktor was quiet as he sat down beside Jayce, letting him talk.
“I don’t even know how long I was down there. When I first fell, I broke my leg. I had to drag myself everywhere. Luckily, there was this little stream close by. Still, the pain was almost too much for me. When I finally gathered enough wood scraps for a fire, I nearly passed out from it all. I probably looked pathetic. I was fine— well, I wasn’t fine. But, I was stable enough for the first little while. I couldn’t tell when it was day or night, it all looked the same. There was no one, I started talking to myself. I’d, uh, talk to my reflection in the water. If I moved a certain way, I could distort myself enough I looked like someone else. I kept thinking I’d see shadows out of the corner of my eye. I was so terrified most of the time. I couldn’t protect myself in the state I was in, I could barely move! I guess a lot of the stuff was just a comfort thing. Anyway, I started seeing things in the fire. Like faces, I guess. It wasn’t anyone specific at first, just eyes and a mouth. But after a while, I started to see Mel. You know Mel, right? Anyway, yeah. When the flames flickered enough, I started to see… you. But, I dunno. I think it was more of my mind playing tricks. In the lab, you always tease when I mess something up. It was the same down there. Like, you would laugh at me, sometimes. But, you wouldn’t talk. The lack of talking and being near people, it started to mess with me a lot. I’d sleep as close to the fire as I could, like it was someone else. It sounds weird, but, you start to miss just being around the warmth— the humanity people have. I would’ve been happy if anyone else was down there. When I started to grow my beard, I felt so alien to myself. I’ve always tried to keep my face clean-shaven, you know that. But when I was physically unable to cut it, seeing my reflection and feeling it on my skin, it scared me. I’d stare at myself in the water, thinking maybe I’d been replaced by an evil clone or something. I dunno. There was one day, I was trying to make a fire, and I was like, encouraging myself. I said my name, Jayce, and it gave me pause. I hadn’t heard my name in so long, I started to doubt if it was even my name. It’s like… Without people reminding me of who I was, I started to forget. When I came back, and people greeted me, it startled me a little. Like, yes, that is my name. Jayce Talis. J. A. Y. C. E. Saying it out loud, I just feel weird. The whole experience was weird,” Jayce trailed off uncertainly, throat raw.
“I would never forget your name. I remember you signing it on every one of your notes… J. A. Y. C. E.,” Viktor chuckled.
“A little egotistical, you said. I dunno how I almost forgot my name after that,” Jayce joked, the memories still resting heavy on his chest.
“I’m glad to know I was not alone in that way,” Viktor sighed, suddenly serious. Jayce was quiet until Viktor continued.
“After I… left you, it was like I could hear this little voice in my head. With my newfound body and abilities, I could help people. Sure, we invented Hextech. I’m not sure I was ever properly credited for that. But, this, this was all my own doing. Thinking back to my own thought process, I sound terribly selfish. And I was. By helping those people, it circled back around to me. And, it’s not as if doing these egocentric tasks came without consequences. You saw. I wasn’t myself. It was like, a virus of sorts. Later, when it had nearly overtaken me, I felt more like I was watching a movie than through my own eyes. I thought what I was doing was right. Sure, I was helping these people. But my reason for it was what led that future you witnessed. But, still, after all of that, you saved me. I do not deserve whatever this is. Not after that. Not after what I did.”
Viktor’s tone was so certain, so sure in this opinion, that Jayce wanted to talk to him until he believed the opposite.
As soon as Jayce opened his mouth to speak, Viktor stood suddenly. Jayce didn’t miss the flash of surprise in his eyes at the ease at which he got up. The emotion was so subtle, most would have missed it. But not him. Not Jayce.
“We should start looking around,” Viktor’s tone was gruff and as he began to walk away Jayce had the urge to reach out and grab his hand. The thought was so tender, so embarrasing, he shocked himself.
“Where to first?” That was all he could manage. Viktor was clearly done talking and Jayce knew not to push him.
“The old lab?” Viktor glanced back and Jayce quickened his pace.
“Race you there..?”
“That’s not funny,” was the last thing Viktor said before he began sprinting towards the exit, Jayce in tow.
Their laughter echoed through the wide expanse and Jayce felt himself ease into the familiarity of it all.
What had happened, to both of them, was still there. All their unspoken words hung heavy in the air.
But, like Viktor had said, they had time.