Work Text:
Jayce Talis woke up on the floor in the middle of his apartment with a roaring headache and the impression that he’d really overslept.
He groaned and pushed himself upright, massaging his forehead.
Had he just passed out right there? That didn’t make sense. Sure, he’d been staying up later and later to try and figure out why Hextech just wasn’t working, even though for the first time he felt like it really should be. He was close to a breakthrough! He had to be. But he hadn’t been that sleep deprived. Had he?
Jayce glanced over at his blackboard, trying to piece together what he’d been doing.
The blackboard was wiped clean.
‘What? No no no!’ Jayce scrambled to his feet and stopped dead.
It had been erased of any trace of his equations and theories but it wasn’t quite blank. A message scrawled across it in huge letters:
VIKTOR WHAT THE HELL? IF YOU COME BACK HERE WAIT FOR ME.
Jayce stared at it. The handwriting perfectly matched his own, but he definitely hadn’t written that. He didn’t even know a Viktor. And who’d erased all his work? He had copies of most of it, but not all and what if some of it was vital? What if he missed cracking Hextech because someone had been in his apartment and erased his notes?
Someone had been in his apartment.
A cold hand seized Jayce’s heart and his gaze inevitably fell on the empty shelf where his nearest rune cage should have sat.
Jayce lunged to the shelf, gripping the edge hard, staring at the empty space which could not – could not – really be empty. But it was. He staggered away, searching for his carved runes, flinging open drawer after drawer. His rune cages? Gone. His carved runes? Gone. His notes? Gone. Gone. Gone.
Everything else was there. Half-finished inventions that weren’t Hextech. Scrolls that hadn’t helped with Hextech. His notes from the Academy. All his books still graced the shelves. Anything Hextech was missing.
‘No! No, no, no no no!’ Jayce scrambled towards his bedroom.
The crystals would be there. The crystals had to be there!
The entire chest was missing.
Jayce slid down to his knees.
This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t all be gone. Had… had he been drugged? Was that why he’d been out cold on the floor?
Wait. Wait. He’d had another notebook in his bedroom. Jayce flew across the room, skidded to a stop, flung open his bedside drawer… and there it was. A smaller notebook, with less of his finalised notes but there. Jayce flipped it open and his heart sunk.
Someone had ripped out the first few pages.
But.
They’d written something in remaining pages.
It read:
Search: Day 1
– Old apartment? No. Recently, yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything. A day ahead of me??? Or just waited until I was out? Why? Maybe he’ll go back there.
– Academy? No. Heimerdinger says unexpectedly took sick leave. Great.
– Aqueducts? No. Worth checking again.
– Below th
– That place in the Undercity? No. Nearly got stabbed though.
Search: Day 2
– Old apartment? No. Door was locked this time. Been back?? Slept there??? Maybe.
– Newer apartment? No. Occupied and not by Viktor.
– Favourite cafe? No.
– Aqueducts? No.
– Eventual Hexgate site? No.
Search: Day 3
– Old apartment? No. Definitely didn’t go back here. Slept in the hall outside. No sign.
– Aqueducts? No.
– Avoiding me? Yeah.
The whole thing was in Jayce’s handwriting. As if he’d been looking for someone named Viktor and recording the results. But he hadn’t. God, what did this mean? Had he been drugged? Had it wrecked his memory?
Jayce read on.
? Where ?
– must be sleeping somewhere (going back to his apartment when he sees me leave?) (watching me???)
– must be eating somewhere. I think?
– must have a screwed up idea of what ‘together’ looks like
– must be disposing of Hextech somewhere.
Jayce gasped. Disposing of it? Why? No, the wording must be wrong; they must just be selling it. Right? Only selling it made sense. And even then… No one could possibly have known what they were taking because it wasn’t like Jayce advertised his research since it was possibly a little bit illegal (but wouldn’t be once he could prove it worked he was sure). The only people who really knew anything about it were his mom and Caitlyn.
So no one could have been looking for it.
Except some guy named Viktor. He had to be the thief. The notes pointed right at it, and it looked like Jayce had been searching for him for days and days and didn’t remember it. Nothing here said how the hell Jayce had figured out this Viktor person was even involved.
But he clearly was… so if Jayce wanted to get his stuff back then he just needed to find ‘Viktor’.
Jayce stared at the message on the blackboard again. Had he… spoken to this person? Told him about Hextech? No. He wouldn’t have.
He grabbed the notebook again and stared at the first entry.
Heimerdinger.
Whoever Viktor was, he’d called in sick to Professor Heimerdinger. Maybe Jayce could start there. He had to start somewhere.
Jayce all but ran to the Academy, stopped dead in front of Heimerdinger’s office, straightened his shirt, smoothed down his collar and made sure he wasn’t heaving in huge breaths anymore before he knocked.
‘Come in!’ called Professor Heimerdinger’s cheerful voice.
Jayce tried not to barge in. ‘Professor. Uh, hi.’
‘Ah, Jayce, my boy, good to see you again. Is everything okay?’
Again?
Oh, right. He must have been here asking to find out Viktor had called in sick. But… Jayce didn’t remember that at all.
‘Yeah. I. Um. I was looking for… Viktor?’
Heimerdinger frowned. ‘I’m afraid he called in for the entire week, Jayce. Forgive me, but I wasn’t aware the two of you had even met.’
‘Just, um, briefly. I just had something I wanted to ask him. I think he might have, uh, picked up my notes by mistake? Which day was he supposed to be back here?’
‘Next week,’ Heimerdinger repeated, still looking a little puzzled.
Next week was several days too far away; Jayce needed to find his things now. He didn’t even know how long Viktor had had them for. Three days at least.
‘I could really do with my notes back before that, Professor,’ Jayce said. ‘Could you give me an address for Viktor so I can go ask him?’
He crossed his fingers behind his back for luck that he hadn’t already asked Heimerdinger. Since apparently he’d checked the apartment. But notebook-Jayce had thought that maybe Viktor was still using the apartment so he had to go there.
Heimerdinger shook his head. ‘That would be terribly unprofessional of me. I couldn’t do such a thing, under the circumstances. I’m afraid Viktor never mentioned you and he certainly does like his privacy! You’ll have to wait until next week, but I’ll tell him you’re looking for him when I see him.’
Jayce ground his teeth together and managed to relax his jaw enough to plead; ‘But, sir, I really need to review my notes!’
‘I’m very sorry. It’s unfortunate, but nothing I can do about it.’
‘Professor, please – ‘
‘You’ll just have to wait.’ Heimerdinger all but shooed him out of the office. ‘And remember that patience is a virtue!’
The door shut behind him.
* * *
‘This is weird, Jayce,’ Caitlyn said, pointing at the blackboard. ‘It’s like you expected him to stay and talk or something.’
Caitlyn had found him hours later in his apartment, after Jayce had given in, sat down, and cried until his throat hurt. His eyes must still have been red when he opened the door, because Caitlyn’s eyes widened and she shoved past him.
It hadn’t taken Jayce long to explain. Not once he’d gestured despairingly at the empty shelves.
‘I don’t know him,’ Jayce complained. ‘Sprout, I don’t even remember writing that. Or this.’
He pointed at the notebook and Caitlyn scooped it up again, nodding as wisely as a teenager could manage.
‘Even weirder,’ she said. ‘But you’ve got to know where ‘Viktor’ lives, because you’ve already been to his place. Like, three times, apparently.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Did you really sleep in the corridor?’
‘I don’t know!’ Jayce buried his head in his hands. ‘If I’ve been there I don’t remember. And Professor Heimerdinger won’t tell me.’
Caitlyn bit her lip. ‘I could find out.’
Jayce smiled a little. ‘Sprout, come on, you’re not in the Enforcers just yet.’
‘I wouldn’t need the Enforcers,’ Caitlyn said. ‘He’s working for Professor Heimerdinger, which means he’s known to the Council. My mother and her staff will know about him. I could get an address, easy. Please let me try, Jayce, it’s your life’s work!’
‘Well, okay, if you think you can. But remember, your mother can’t know what’s happened here, or what I’m looking for.’
‘No, that’s good,’ Caitlyn said seriously. ‘It sounds like this Viktor is good at avoiding attention. We don’t want him to go to ground, if he hasn’t already, so we can’t do anything that might spook him.’
‘Makes sense,’ Jayce mumbled.
It didn’t really. None of it made sense. He tried to put on as cheerful a face as possible as Caitlyn disappeared out of his apartment again, but god, how was he supposed to be optimistic about this? Even if they found Viktor’s apartment, Jayce had apparently already been there. Maybe it would work. Maybe whoever Viktor was, he’d be back home, certain in the knowledge that he’d given Jayce something to erase the last few days from his memory. Because the memory loss had to be connected, didn’t it? Or maybe he’d just hit his head or something. The thing about memory loss was he didn’t know.
If it were anything else that had been stolen he could go to the Enforcers, but how could he describe things that he definitely shouldn’t have had in the first place?
If the Enforcers found his things, they’d only confiscate them. And then he’d never get them back.
Instead, Jayce went to his neighbours, knocking on doors and asking if they’d seen anyone carrying things from Jayce’s apartment. No luck. The people who answered the doors had only seen him coming and going.
Jayce groaned and started going over his apartment again with a fine tooth comb. There had to be something left.
When Caitlyn returned, he had to wiggle out from under the bed – it wasn’t impossible for a sheet of notes to have slid under there – to answer the door.
‘I got it!’ Caitlyn announced triumphantly, waving a little pad of paper with an address written on it. ‘Let’s go find your thief!’
Jayce managed an actual, genuine smile. ‘Good work! Hey, I think you’d better stay here for this. The guy might be aggressive.’
Caitlyn pulled the paper out of reach, pouting. ‘No way! I got this for you, please don’t make me sit the actual arrest out, Jayce, you can’t do that to me!’
‘I’m not arresting anyone,’ Jayce said. ‘I’m just getting my research back.’
‘It’s the same kind of thing,’ Caitlyn argued. ‘We’re recovering stolen goods, based on my information. I have to come.’
Jayce hesitated, but Viktor probably wouldn’t even be there. And then Jayce could maybe do with the presence of a Kiramman, because he was going to break down the door if it was locked and Caitlyn just had to flash her family name around to make any Enforcer back down.
‘All right, Sprout,’ he said. ‘You can come, but you have to hang back until we know it’s safe.’
* * *
Jayce approached the apartment at a jog, Caitlyn hot on his heels, anger burning in his gut. The long walk over had fanned the flames of his fear into a full on fire. Who the hell did this guy think he was, stealing from Jayce? Maybe he thought being Heimerdinger’s assistant made him hot shit.
Caitlyn had filled him in on that detail on the way. Viktor. Professor Heimerdinger’s assistant and from the Undercity. Jayce hung on to what little information he had.
‘What’s the plan?’ Caitlyn whispered, eyes shining.
‘I knock,’ Jayce said.
She rolled her eyes. ‘You can’t just knock.’
‘I can and I’m going to. He doesn’t know it’s me.’
‘Yes, but Jayce, the notebook says you’ve been here every day.’
‘If he doesn’t open up, I kick the door down. Okay?’
‘Cool,’ said Caitlyn.
‘Just stand back,’ Jayce said. ‘We know he’s from the Undercity and a thief. Just stand a little to the side in case he comes out swinging, all right?’
Caitlyn nodded, and stepped to the side.
Jayce knocked heavily on the door and held his breath.
A faint tap, tap, tap came from within the apartment. Then the door swung open. The slight figure standing in the doorway briefly took the wind out of Jayce’s sails. He was half a head shorter than Jayce, rail thin, and leaning on a cane. Yet, sharp amber eyes flicked over Jayce, assessing him and seemingly finding him wanting.
‘Yes?’ the man asked expectantly, an accent coming out despite the single word.
Jayce rallied. ‘Are you Viktor?’
‘Yes. And you might be…?’
The nerve of this guy!
Jayce shoved past him and into the apartment, despite the wordless cry of protest from Viktor. Once inside the place was small, no tiny, and a quick glance revealed no obvious Hextech. But he’d stash it somewhere else, wouldn’t he?
‘I’m Jayce Talis,’ Jayce said, turning around and folding his arms. ‘And you’re going to give me my things back.’
Viktor’s eyes narrowed as Caitlyn stepped in neatly after Jayce. ‘You’re certainly presumptuous. I’ll have you know I’m assistant to the dean of the academy, who – ‘
‘You’re a goddamn thief!’ Jayce snapped.
Indecision flickered over Viktor’s face before he shut the apartment door. ‘Well, Jayce Talis, I’m assuming you’ve had some things stolen?’
‘You know I have.’
‘I’m afraid I didn’t, actually. Are you sure you haven’t got the wrong address?’
‘Viktor from the Undercity?’ piped up Caitlyn. ‘No last name? Works for Professor Heimerdinger and likes to hang out at the aqueducts?’
Viktor rocked back. ‘Who told you…?’
‘Where,’ Jayce said, advancing on him, ‘is my equipment? I’ve got a whole inventory if you need your memory jogging?’
Viktor frowned. ‘Now why would you word it like that?’
‘Like what?’ Jayce asked. ‘How about you give me my stuff and I don’t report you to the Enforcers?’
‘Jayce!’ Caitlyn called excitedly and lifted up one of Jayce’s rune cages.
A fresh wave of rage accompanied the vindication. Jayce got right in Viktor’s face. ‘How’re you going to explain that, huh?’
‘I have no idea what that is,’ Viktor said, chin coming up. ‘Did you plant it here? You and your teenage sidekick?’
‘I didn’t plant anything and you know it. You stole it from my apartment along with all of my research. Where the hell’s the rest of it?’
‘I’ll search the apartment!’ Caitlyn called, diving into the next room over.
Viktor watched her go, nose scrunching up. He took a breath; ‘Does your work happen to address the arcane, by any chance?’
Got you.
‘So you stole it and you read through it.’
‘No,’ Viktor said. ‘No, it was just a hunch. I haven’t seen your notes. Has anything… odd happened to you this week?’
‘Yeah,’ Jayce growled, ‘I had all my research stolen from my apartment.’
Viktor waved a hand dismissively. ‘Obviously. I mean stranger than that. Memory loss, maybe?’
‘You did that?’ Jayce glared at him. He’d really hoped he hadn’t. If Viktor was going around drugging people then Jayce was going to have to report him to the Enforcers and that… that really could ruin everything. ‘What the hell did you give me?’
‘I didn’t give you anything.’
‘I’m not screwing around,’ Jayce said, leaning right into Viktor’s personal space, balling his hands into fists. ‘Tell me where you’ve stashed my research!’
‘Jayce…’ Caitlyn sounded slightly more uncertain, which couldn’t be good.
Jayce kept staring Viktor down, but called back; ‘Yeah?’
‘I found something.’
‘Can you bring it in here?’ Jayce asked, because according to his notes if Viktor got out the door Jayce would struggle to find him again.
‘I guess, it’s just… letters.’
‘Looking for buyers?’ Jayce asked Viktor bitterly, because Caitlyn wouldn’t have mentioned it if it didn’t relate to his research.
‘Ah, no.’ Viktor pushed his hair out of his face and sighed. ‘Not exactly. I’m assuming you have had some memory loss. You didn’t find written letters addressed to you?’
‘No, your ransom notes must have got lost en route,’ Jayce snapped and Viktor had the audacity to roll his eyes.
Caitlyn hurried back into the room. ‘Jayce, these are weird.’
She passed him one and Jayce took a step away from Viktor, still making sure he was between Viktor and the door, nearly tripping over an errant stack of books. He took the letter from Caitlyn.
Viktor,
The memory loss is because you have been, for want of a better word, possessed for the past few days. I have not messed with your life, but I am here to deliver a warning. Avoid anything to do with the arcane.
If you touch the arcane the world will end. I am not exaggerating. You are particularly susceptible to its influence.
I am from a version of your future. Hundreds are dead in my reality, directly from your hand. I’ve seen an even worse version. Piltover and the Undercity in ruins, all the people dead. I do mean all of them. A path of desolation and destruction formed from your will.
Do not touch the arcane. Do not seek out magic or anything magic adjacent.
There was no sign off.
‘What the fuck?’ Jayce asked, lowering the paper.
‘I was wondering much the same,’ Viktor said, eyes sliding to the side. His hands clenched and unclenched on the cane. ‘Your work, your research, it is arcane based, isn’t it? I can’t see how else it could be connected. You truly didn’t find anything addressed to yourself?’
Jayce shook his head, trying to figure out what to make of this.
‘I would dismiss the entire thing out of hand,’ Viktor continued, ‘only I have no memory of the last three days. Yet things in my apartment have moved, there is your device there, and I suspect I’ve been doing a fair amount of walking around.’
‘I think he wrote these himself,’ Caitlyn said, eyes wide, looking at Viktor. She’d grabbed a notebook from the coffee table and was comparing it to a second note.
Jayce waved the note at Viktor. ‘You wrote this?’
‘Obviously not.’ Viktor gave a self-conscious shrug. ‘But it is in my handwriting.’
Okay. Jayce needed a moment here. Viktor was… possibly insane. Except that he’d specified three days, and Jayce also had notes written in his handwriting from the last three days that he didn’t remember writing. That was way too specific. Creepy.
‘Cait, could you pass me the other one?’ Jayce asked, holding out his hand.
‘It’s even weirder,’ Caitlyn proclaimed, handing it over.
As he took it, Viktor sort of swayed forward like he wanted to try and grab it. Jayce eyed him suspiciously.
Viktor,
I have figured out how to leave this place. You will find one odd device in your apartment. Destroy it. It won’t provide any clues to the last three days I promise you.
I want to reiterate that you must not touch the arcane.
The death of the entire world is not worth your curiosity. Please consider that this warning is a courtesy I need not have extended. You are the cause. There was one much simpler way of ensuring those devastating events do not occur here. Keep that in mind.
Also, you are off work until next week.
‘O-kay,’ Jayce said, ‘this is – ‘
‘Threatening, yes,’ Viktor said.
Jayce pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘All right, you know what, forget these for now. You stole my research. At the bare minimum I need to know what you did with my notes and the chest of crystals.’
Viktor shook his head. ‘I have neither of those things.’
‘Yeah, you do. The chest is about so big.’ Jayce mimed the size in the air. ‘Weighs a fair bit because it’s got metal shielding. And houses a dozen blue crystals. Where is it?’
‘Oh please, as if I could have moved something that size.’
Jayce glared at him. ‘You could be faking the leg.’
‘Yes, all right, Jayce Talis, let’s assume I am indeed ‘faking the leg’. That chest would still be going nowhere because some of us are not built like a fitness poster, hm?’
Caitlyn giggled.
‘Clearly you had help!’
‘Of course; us Undercity folk always have a string of criminal connections in case we feel like stealing a chest of unknown crystals on a whim.’ Viktor raised his eyebrows. ‘No. I haven’t seen your research. I would like to solve this mystery. It would go faster if you would confirm you are also missing three days’ worth of time.’
Jayce deflated. Viktor seemed remarkably coherent for someone who’d apparently been writing threatening notes to himself. And if he didn’t know where Jayce’s research was…
‘Yeah. About three days,’ Jayce said. ‘And I did find some notes, but nothing like yours.’
He handed his own notebook to Viktor, who took it and frowned.
‘Fascinating,’ said Viktor. ‘I’d heard your name before, of course, but there’s no reason why you should know of me. And yet. Yes, I do work for Heimerdinger, as your Kiramman helper here presumably confirmed – ‘
‘How do you know I’m a Kiramman?’
Viktor rolled his eyes. ‘You resemble your mother. And I have seen you occasionally at Council events.’
‘Oh.’
‘As I was saying, you’re also apparently aware that I like to visit the aqueducts. No reason why you should know that. The Undercity? Eh, I don’t return often, but I’m not surprised you were nearly stabbed. There are places where you would certainly be targeted where I could simply walk through.’ He looked Jayce up and down. ‘Most places, if you went in dressed like that. However, most intriguing is the reference to my ‘new apartment’ as if seems to match – ‘
‘Your note that says they were from the future!’ Jayce exclaimed.
‘Exactly.’
‘Holy shit,’ Jayce said. ‘Does that mean someone else has been walking around these past few days as me?’
‘Evidence would suggest it,’ Viktor murmured, staring down at Jayce’s notebook.
‘That could be why you missed lunch with my mother two days ago,’ said Caitlyn. ‘She’s still kinda mad.’
‘Oh god, you didn’t tell me that? Why didn’t you tell me that?’
‘We have a whole mystery to solve,’ Caitlyn said. ‘It didn’t seem important.’
‘Not to you!’
‘I’m sure you can make it up to your sponsor later,’ Viktor said. ‘For now I happen to agree with Miss Kiramman; we have other things to concern us.’
‘Okay,’ Jayce said, starting to pace in the limited space of Viktor’s apartment. ‘Okay. So two random strangers, uh, possessed us… god, that’s weird… for three days. The one with you stole my things and hid them somewhere, while the one with me tried to find it. That doesn’t… It’s not much to go on. How do we even verify it?’
‘If it was a stranger why is Viktor’s name written in huge letters on your blackboard as if you were talking to him?’ Caitlyn asked.
Viktor turned to look at Jayce.
Jayce frowned at both of them. ‘I don’t know? Maybe because it was Viktor’s body?’
Viktor wrinkled his nose. ‘I’ll have to agree with the assessment of; weird. What was written on the blackboard? Just my name?’
‘Your name and that you should stay if you came back or something,’ Jayce said.
Caitlyn cleared her throat and said; ‘It said; ‘Viktor, what the hell. If you come back here, wait for me.’ In really huge letters. Sounds a bit like the person with Jayce wanted to team up with Viktor’s ghost.’
‘Excuse me? My ghost?’
Caitlyn put her nose in the air. ‘We have to call them something.’
‘What we have to do is find those crystals,’ Jayce said. ‘They’re really important to my research and, uh, also a little dangerous.’
‘Dangerous as in arcane related?’ Viktor asked again.
Jayce glanced down at the note he still held. ‘Uh, maybe.’
‘I will assume that to be a yes.’
‘If they’re not here, where would you have put them?’ Jayce asked, a little desperately.
‘Mm, well, a few problems there. Firstly, it wasn’t me and therefore I have no way of answering that question. Secondly…’ Viktor gestured at himself in general. ‘I still couldn’t have carried that chest.’
‘Not even a short distance?’ Jayce asked, wondering if maybe they could have a search in the area around his apartment.
‘Assuming I could even pick it up,’ Viktor said. ‘While I can’t say for certain without knowing how heavy it was, it doesn’t sound like something I could carry one handed. I doubt I could have got it out of your apartment.’
‘Dragging it, maybe?’
Viktor considered. ‘Maybe. If I rigged something up. But with what time and resources? Your research appears to have gone missing on day one. These crystals inside, how big are they?’
Jayce’s heart sank a little further. Viktor definitely didn’t know what they were looking for. ‘Not big. About an inch across.’
‘Really? So small?’ Viktor tapped his fingers on the top of his cane. ‘In which case I don’t understand why the chest is missing at all. It would be faster and far less noticeable to simply take the crystals out.’
‘Maybe your ghost didn’t want you to touch them,’ Caitlyn suggested. ‘He didn’t want you near anything magic.’
‘There’s always gloves,’ Viktor said dismissively.
‘What I think is interesting,’ Caitlyn continued, ‘is that Jayce’s ghost – ‘
‘Hey,’ said Jayce, because that did sound… not great.
‘– was looking for Viktor, but not necessarily Jayce’s research. He knew Viktor’s ghost though. But also, why did Viktor’s ghost like to go to Viktor’s places? That’s just weird.’
‘We’ve very much covered that this whole thing may be classified as weird, don’t you think?’ Viktor said.
‘No, she’s got a point,’ Jayce said. ‘She really does. What if it was you?’
‘I already told you it was not me. Do those sound like something I would write?’ Viktor gestured at the notes. ‘I don’t think so!’
‘No, right, but they say from your future, basically, and the theory of alternate universes states that every little combination could happen – ‘
‘You think it was an alternative version of myself possessing me,’ Viktor said, sceptically. ‘Threatening myself?’
‘The note said everyone else was dead,’ Caitlyn said, far too cheerfully.
Viktor grimaced. ‘I’d like to think our… visitor was simply delusional.’
‘And it could have been another Jayce too,’ Caitlyn said, clearly warming to her theory.
‘But I don’t know Viktor,’ Jayce protested. ‘Didn’t know Viktor, anyway.’
‘You might in the future, duh,’ Caitlyn said. ‘I mean, think about it, you do now.’
‘Ah, but that does not track with everyone in Piltover being dead,’ Viktor said, a touch of relief creeping into his tone.
‘Actually,’ Jayce said, rereading Viktor’s first note. ‘This mentions two different realities. And everyone’s only dead in one of them, so it’s not totally out of the question. But your letters don’t mention either my name or Hextech.’
‘What’s Hextech?’ Viktor asked. ‘Oh, and Hexgate, too. What is that?’
‘It’s my research,’ Jayce said. ‘Hextech. I’m not sure what a Hexgate is, but it’s got to be connected.’
‘And this says the site of the Hexgates,’ Viktor said slowly. ‘The future site. So I think we can surmise that your research becomes less theoretical and more practical.’
Jayce perked up. ‘You think so?’
‘It would make the most sense.’
‘But it can’t if I don’t have my research,’ Jayce said. ‘It’s my life’s work! I need those crystals and at least some of my notes. I’ve already lost enough just with the blackboards being wiped.’
‘Have you tried asking your neighbours if they saw anyone leaving with a large chest three days ago?’ Viktor asked.
‘Yeah, we tried that. Listen, can I look in here? Not for the chest, that’s obvious, but the crystals or my notebooks. You do have the rune cage.’
‘Which you’re welcome to take back, but my own letter suggests that’s all that’s here.’ Viktor shrugged. ‘I’ve been over my entire apartment, as soon as I realised something had happened. The crystals aren’t here. I maintain that I couldn’t have carried it out.’
‘How far can you walk without the cane?’ Jayce asked, picturing the buildings surrounding his apartment. ‘Can you show me?’
Viktor’s eyebrows slammed down in a frown.
‘You’re being really rude, Jayce,’ said Caitlyn.
‘I know what I can carry and how far,’ Viktor added acerbically.
‘Right, sorry. I really need my research back.’
‘The idea that I may have had help,’ Viktor said, sounding only slightly mollified, ‘is even less likely if this person was from another reality, regardless of who they are. They wouldn’t have the contacts to get something moved at very short notice from an apartment I don’t even own. I could not have moved the crystals.’
‘I bet the… ghost… could have found a way,’ Jayce argued.
‘How about we call them Ghost One and Ghost Two?’ Caitlyn suggested. ‘In case we’re wrong about them being you?’
‘I think we can assume you are wrong about that,’ Viktor said, pointing at his letter. ‘I did not write this. In any case, where have you, not the ghost, searched so far? Have you tried to retrace your steps for the last three days?’
‘No. Have you?’
Viktor shook his head. ‘No.’
‘Tracing Jayce’s steps wouldn’t help,’ Caitlyn said. ‘I said Ghost Two was looking for you, or maybe Ghost One, but not the research.’
‘Hey,’ Jayce said. ‘How come Viktor’s ghost is Ghost One?’ He winced when both Caitlyn and Viktor gave him identical disbelieving looks. ‘Nevermind. Of course Ghost Two was looking for my research, that’s what had been taken.’
‘No, Miss Kiramman is once again correct,’ Viktor said. ‘That person was looking for me. Or, presumably, Ghost One.’
‘Because you had my research!’
‘That’s only a guess,’ Caitlyn said. ‘Everything in your notes references Viktor, not your research. Maybe we should write down what we know? You know, track our investigation.’
‘Would there be anything in your research that would allow for this kind of thing?’ Viktor asked. ‘Possession? Travel between realities? In addition to finding your work, I’d also prefer to know how this happened.’
‘No, it’s not what Hextech is,’ Jayce said. ‘Look, okay, maybe it is arcane related, but nothing like this.’
‘We should start a proper search for your things,’ Caitlyn said eagerly. ‘If Ghost Two didn’t even try then maybe it won’t be hard. We can start right at the basics.’
‘It is perhaps worth a try,’ Viktor said and sighed heavily. ‘Well. Since you are apparently my guests; would anyone like tea?’
* * *
About an hour later, Jayce found himself sitting next to Viktor in Viktor’s apartment, trying to absorb the information that he’d apparently been possessed while Caitlyn paced in front of them with her notepad, trying to collate all their information.
Not that that was hard. Viktor had only shrugged at the description ‘that place in the Undercity’ and said he had no idea where that referred to. Other than that, it seemed he’d mostly spent his time in his apartment trying to figure out why he was missing three days’ worth of memories and getting nowhere. He didn’t work with anything magic at all, which only made his letter all the stranger.
The letters, notes and rune cage seemed to be all the evidence they had.
‘Okay,’ Caitlyn said. ‘We have all our information. Now we need a plan of action.’
Jayce risked a glance at Viktor, who was staring at Caitlyn incredulously, not for the first time. Mercifully, he didn’t say anything.
‘We’ve got to get right back to the basics,’ Caitlyn continued, and Viktor’s eyebrows climbed towards his hairline. ‘We know what was stolen, by who, and roughly when, but no idea of where it was taken. We’ve checked the suspect’s home and the stolen items are not present. Do we have any other leads?’
It took Jayce a moment to realise the question wasn’t rhetorical.
‘Uh, not really?’
‘That’s not exactly true,’ Caitlyn said. ‘We have possibly the Undercity.’
Uh uh. No way. Jayce was not bringing Caitlyn down for a trip into the Undercity. Cassandra Kiramman would skin him alive.
‘The Undercity is big place,’ Jayce said. ‘I wouldn’t say the city itself is much of a lead.’
Disappointment flashed over Caitlyn’s features. ‘Okay. We’ll put that down as a plan B then. The only other true bases of information we have is that the stolen items were definitely taken from Jayce’s apartment and at least one of them ended up here. Also, that the casing surrounding the goods was unnecessarily bulky.’
‘Hey, that was for safety reasons,’ Jayce protested.
‘Still too bulky,’ Caitlyn shot back and pointed at Viktor, who massaged his forehead. ‘He said he couldn’t get it very far, remember?’
Viktor didn’t remove his hand or look up to correct that.
‘Okay, Sprout,’ Jayce said. ‘I don’t see how this helps.’
‘Because it gives us a search area, duh.’ Caitlyn waved the notepad at him. ‘If he didn’t have help, then Viktor can’t have done it all in one trip anyway, so maybe he stashed a pile nearby. And he definitely would have taken the crystals out and ditched the chest.’
‘It may be worth a look,’ Viktor put in. ‘Although I fail to see what good the empty chest will do.’
‘It’d be something,’ Jayce said. ‘And maybe…’ He sighed. ‘Maybe Ghost One missed a crystal or something.’
‘Great,’ Caitlyn said. ‘Let’s get this investigation moving.’
Viktor’s expression did a full face journey before settling on a neutral that was definitely a mask, but to Jayce’s surprise he followed Caitlyn not only towards the door, but went with her and Jayce out of the apartment. Honestly, Jayce had expected him to tell both of them to take a hike. And also slam the apartment door behind them. Which would have been awkward, because he was Jayce’s only connection to whatever was actually happening. Viktor had stolen Jayce’s research. Okay, yeah, Jayce was willing to concede that it didn’t make any sense without the whole possession thing but that was still majorly creepy. So maybe he’d like it better if Viktor didn’t have the opportunity to disappear again.
‘Um, do we want Viktor coming with us?’ Caitlyn asked, as if she’d read Jayce’s thoughts purely to derail his plans.
‘Yeah, we do, why wouldn’t we?’
‘The letter said he shouldn’t touch the arcane,’ Caitlyn said. ‘And also that he ends the world? It was pretty clear about it.’
‘Obviously that is patently false,’ Viktor said, standing a pace or so away and leaning on his cane. ‘Why would I end the world? I live here too. Ridiculous. We can discount that information, don’t you think?’
Caitlyn looked to Jayce.
Jayce shrugged. ‘He has a point, Sprout.’
‘Okay. We’ll start at Jayce’s apartment,’ Caitlyn announced, and set off.
Jayce found himself lagging behind. He stared at one hand and poked the middle of his palm; had it been someone else’s hand this week? The ending the world thing wasn’t the only crazy part. Had someone else really been walking around as him? For three days? It sounded pretty impossible, but it also fitted perfectly into the facts. But why had the same thing happened to him and Viktor, a man he’d never met?
And where the hell had his research ended up?
In front of him, Caitlyn had struck up a conversation with Viktor.
‘You walk faster than I expected,’ Caitlyn was saying and, oh yeah, who was rude now?
‘Thank you,’ Viktor said dryly.
‘Um, can I ask a question?’ Caitlyn asked. ‘It might be a little personal?’
‘You may ask,’ Viktor said, then, just as dryly as before; ‘But if it is personal and rude I might still take offence.’
‘Oh.’ Caitlyn seemed to chew on that for a moment. ‘It might be offensive? It’s just that you’re from the Undercity and I was wondering if that’s how your leg got hurt? You know, in a fight. My mother says you can be minding your business and still get hurt just by walking down the street. And Jayce’s diary says he nearly got stabbed just looking for you.’
Jayce winced.
‘Hm,’ Viktor said. ‘That may be so, but I was born like this.’
‘Really?’ Caitlyn asked. ‘Couldn’t your doctor help?’
‘Uh… no.’
‘That must have made fighting off the gangs really hard,’ Caitlyn said and Jayce wondered if he should intervene.
‘You don’t think I could take them?’ Viktor asked and Jayce choked on air. ‘Maybe I am handy with a knife.’
‘Um,’ Caitlyn said and abruptly changed tact. ‘I’m going to become an Enforcer and fix things.’
‘Ah,’ said Viktor.
‘We’re here!’ Jayce called, before Caitlyn could make Viktor decide to ditch his two weird visitors and try to solve the mystery on his own. Or, worse, with Professor Heimerdinger.
First stop: the dumpsters closest to Jayce’s apartment. Caitlyn didn’t search them, she just directed Jayce around as if she actually had any idea where to look. Viktor… didn’t even actively refuse. He just started searching around the dumpsters instead. Great. God, Jayce hoped none of his neighbours saw him rummaging through the trash.
It would still be worth it if he found something. Except, mostly what Jayce could find he didn’t really want to find. Rotten food, spilling out of waste bags. Soggy cardboard. Unidentifiable things that he really wished he hadn’t touched.
‘Urgh,’ said Jayce, hauling himself out of dumpster number three.
Caitlyn wrinkled her nose. ‘You smell bad.’
Jayce heaved a sigh. ‘Yeah. Thanks, but I know that.’
Viktor headed back towards them from further down the alley, his cane tapping on the paving stones. ‘There’s nothing here.’
‘Okay,’ Caitlyn said. ‘On to the next site!’
By site number four Jayce was seriously reconsidering their search idea. All of the dumpsters were tucked away out of sight, so he probably wouldn’t be spotted, but that really didn’t help with the contents. All of them were pretty much the same as the first. Jayce eyed the next one and wondered about the likelihood of actually finding anything in there. Low. But not zero and therefore he had to look.
He put one hand on the edge.
‘Mr Talis?’
Jayce jumped to find Viktor standing right next to him. Oh shit, he was going to bail. ‘Yeah?’
‘You’ve been very closed mouthed about your research,’ Viktor said, as if it was an idle comment, peering at the dumpster. ‘But surely there is something about it that would explain our ‘ghosts’. There must be magic involved and they were interested in your research. It cannot be a coincidence.’
Oh right. A quick look confirmed that Viktor had waited until Caitlyn had wandered off out of earshot. So maybe he wasn’t intending to be friendly about this, which, okay, maybe Jayce had barged into his apartment and searched it, but he’d had reason.
‘It isn’t connected,’ Jayce said.
Viktor glared at him from under heavy eyebrows. ‘Jayce Talis, I am missing three days’ worth of time, during which it appears I have been possessed. Your research is involved. So if you would mind not fucking with me about it; that would help.’
Jayce blinked, got a particularly strong breath of dumpster, and winced. ‘I’m not lying. My research has nothing to do with… with possession! That’s just… no. It’s, look, this is secret, okay? Top secret.’
‘Top secret, yes.’ Viktor gave him a flat look. ‘Something I have never come across as assistant to the head of the Council.’
‘All right.’ Jayce squared his shoulders. ‘It’s about harnessing magic through runic sequences. It works. I’ve seen it work! I could bring magic to the people, save lives! But, seriously, what I’ve seen is levitation and teleportation. That’s what I’m working on.’
Viktor wrinkled his nose. ‘Intriguing, yes, but that makes no sense.’
Jayce gritted his teeth. ‘It works. I saw it. I –‘
‘No, no no.’ Viktor waved a hand at him impatiently. ‘I cannot evaluate the merits of your research having seen none of it. I meant: that makes no sense to the situation at hand. It must be connected.’
The problem was, yeah, he was right, it seemed like it could be connected, except that Hextech had nothing to do with possession. It didn’t. And even if it had it wasn’t ready. It… well, it didn’t currently work. Jayce’s other problem was that the more Viktor referenced Hextech the more obvious it became that he really hadn’t seen Jayce’s notes. He was telling the truth. Which was really shit for Jayce’s chances for actually recovering anything. The dumpster checks weren’t working and Caitlyn was right. They had no leads.
‘I get why you think that,’ Jayce said, ‘but it’s not.’
‘Must I spell this out? I have a threatening letter warning me of the arcane, which I have never touched,’ Viktor said. ‘You have research into the arcane. ‘Ghost One’ has apparently taken your research and ‘Ghost Two’ believes it would have been in an attempt to destroy it. Tell me again this isn’t connected.’
‘Maybe Ghosts One and Two were both delusional,’ Jayce muttered.
‘Maybe so,’ Viktor said, a little more wryly. ‘There’s evidence to suggest it. Unfortunately, they were also adept at arcane body snatching.’
‘There’s nothing in my research that I can connect to this, really, I’m as confused as you are.’
Viktor kept right on studying him.
‘There really isn’t,’ Jayce said.
‘Talk me through it,’ Viktor said.
‘Huh?’
‘Your research,’ Viktor said. ‘Talk me through it. Allow me to make that decision for myself. Three days of potential possession, Mr Talis. I want to get to the bottom of this.’
‘You can call me Jayce and, listen, talking through it would be… It’s pretty complex.’ Jayce wilted under Viktor’s highly unimpressed look. ‘Do you think it might job your memory if you saw some of it? Like, we were both still here over the last three days, maybe we could recover some memories?’
‘Eh, it’s a thought. But I was under the impression that there was none of your research to see?’
‘None of my recent research,’ Jayce said. ‘I’ve got some of my older notes at my mom’s house.’
Viktor looked thoughtful. ‘I would like to take a look.’
‘Jayce!’ Caitlyn called. ‘You’re not even looking!’
Jayce grimaced at Viktor. ‘She’s not wrong and, well, I really do want to make sure I don’t miss anything. Uh, why don’t we go to my mother’s place tomorrow? I can meet you at your apartment first thing.’
‘That sounds like a better plan.’ Viktor shrugged. ‘I will leave you to your trash search. In the unlikely event that you find something, please let me know.’
* * *
‘Are you certain she won’t mind us dropping in unannounced?’ Viktor asked as Jayce went to knock on the door to his mother’s house.
‘Nah,’ Jayce said, knocking. ‘She says it’s still my home. She probably wouldn’t even mind if I just walked in.’
Ximena opened the door and immediately enveloped Jayce in a huge hug, admonishing him for being away for such a long time and not coming by for dinner often enough.
‘And you’ve brought someone with you,’ Ximena said, giving Jayce the introduce me now look.
Jayce opened his mouth –
‘Viktor, assistant to Professor Heimerdinger,’ Viktor said, stepping forward and extending his hand. ‘A pleasure to meet you, Mrs Talis.’
Jayce tried to shoot Viktor an annoyed did you have to introduce yourself like that? look, but Viktor wasn’t watching. Instead Ximena took his hand and shook it carefully.
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Nice to meet you, Viktor. Is Professor Heimerdinger taking an interest in Jayce’s work?’
‘Ah, no,’ Viktor said, offering an apologetic smile. ‘Just his assistant for the time being.’
‘We’re just here to look at some of my older research, mom,’ Jayce said. ‘Nothing official.’
‘Would you like tea, Viktor?’ Ximena asked as they walked through into the main sitting room.
‘No, we’re – ‘ Jayce started to say.
‘Thank you, Mrs Talis, that would be perfect,’ said Viktor, at the same time.
Jayce glanced between Viktor – perfectly poised, his cane somehow making him look distinguished, very polite – and his mother. Great. He was going to be hearing about this later. How was he supposed to explain that Viktor was only circumstantially interested in Jayce’s research and, worse, not even actually Jayce’s friend? He was never going to hear the end of it. What happened to that nice boy you brought around? Viktor, wasn’t it? Oh Jayce, don’t tell me you were rude to him, was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.
‘I’ll go grab the notes,’ Jayce said, quickly, so that Viktor didn’t follow him to his childhood bedroom.
When he got back, Viktor and Ximena was chatting casually, the tea was set down in front of them, and Jayce wondered why he hadn’t just brought the notes to Viktor in his apartment. Or met up later in Jayce’s apartment. Or literally anything else.
All his research was missing and now his mother was going to be delighted Jayce had made a friend as if he wasn’t twenty three years old.
Ximena did leave when Jayce handed the notes to Viktor, who nodded once to him and immediately dived right into them without a word. Jayce tried not to fidget.
Hextech was revolutionary, cutting edge stuff, and, sure, Heimerdinger wouldn’t have hired someone as his assistant who wasn’t at least bright but maybe Jayce’s years old notes on an outlandish theory were a little… much. But proving Jayce hadn’t had anything to do with the ghost duo wasn’t the only point here.
‘Recognise anything?’ Jayce asked anxiously.
Viktor held up one finger and his forehead furrowed. Then he turned the page, looked up, and asked; ‘What?’
‘Do you recognise any of it?’ Jayce asked.
‘Oh yes,’ Viktor said and Jayce’s heart leapt, until; ‘Your name. It seems to be on every page.’
Jayce buried his head in his hands.
‘Now the theory,’ Viktor said, ‘that I haven’t seen before. In fact, I’ve never seen anything like it. Would your mother complain if we spent a little longer here? I would like to read through it more thoroughly.’
‘I mean, no, but we can just go back to my apartment,’ Jayce said.
A slight shake of Viktor’s head. ‘I’d prefer to finish my first impression now, if you don’t mind. Taking such a long break in the middle of a thought is, eh, unhelpful.’
‘Okay,’ Jayce said. ‘Sure. We can stay here for a bit.’
Several cups of tea later, Viktor had his own notebook splayed out on the table next to Jayce and had got to the stage where he was peppering Jayce with questions. If this variable is used here why not here? How had he discovered that this rune might fit with this rune when he had not succeeded in stabilizing the device? Was this frequency chart up to date? Was he certain that the runes had to be in a precise orientation to yield results? Was it perhaps the crystal’s innate instability preventing Jayce’s experiments from working rather than the rune sequences themselves?
And Jayce… when he wasn’t answering questions, his jaw was on the floor.
No wonder Heimerdinger had hired Viktor. He was brilliant. An actual, real, honest-to-god, genius. And he was interested in Jayce’s Hextech. God. Half the reason Jayce was so secretive about it (aside from making sure the ideas didn’t get stolen – signing the pages was vital) was because the few times he’d even mentioned it to another scientist he’d been laughed out of the room.
Viktor opened his mouth to ask another question, blinked, stared at the clock. ‘Ah. Now I fear I’ve overstayed my welcome.’
‘Mom won’t mind,’ Jayce said. ‘But, yeah, we should probably get moving. We can take this back to my place, if you want?’
‘Yes, I…’ Viktor looked down at the research. ‘I’d like some more time with this.’
Jayce preened.
Ximena hugged him again as they were leaving and said; ‘Jayce, you simply must bring Viktor back here; what a nice young man. It’s so wonderful to see you making friends.’
And, yeah, okay, it would be slightly more embarrassing if Jayce wasn’t starting to agree with her.
* * *
Back in his own apartment, Jayce could only see all the things he’d upended searching desperately for anything left of his research. The empty spaces were still pressing in on him, urging him to keep searching. But where?
‘Sorry about the mess,’ Jayce said. ‘I was… I was looking for everything.’
‘Yes, I can – oh.’
Viktor had come to a stop in the middle of the room and he was staring openly at Jayce’s blackboard, where his name was still written in huge letters.
‘Oh yeah,’ Jayce said. ‘Uh, that was my first clue that something really weird had happened.’
‘Yes, yeah, it is… it’s quite disconcerting, actually.’ Viktor ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it absently. ‘There have been points where I have almost, almost, been able to forget the possession aspect of our little puzzle. But this? That is not even Ghost One’s name. It’s mine. One of my letters implies that they two of them were not initially sure how to leave again. And this… is it my name because they didn’t intend to leave? Imagine, Jayce, our lives could have been cut short this week; ended prematurely while others piloted our bodies around taking over our lives. It would work. No one would ever suspect such a thing.’
It felt like the floor had dropped from beneath Jayce.
‘You think that’s possible?’
‘I think neither of us have any memory of the time our visitors were here, and amble evidence that we moved around. Who’s to say there’s a time limit on that?’ Viktor patted Jayce’s old research and gave a little shrug. ‘I was hoping to find something in here to help. Perhaps some kind of arcane shielding if not direct answers, but although your Hextech is fascinating, it doesn’t hold either of these things, does it?’
‘No,’ Jayce said. ‘It doesn’t. But, Viktor, if someone replaced us… people would notice.’
‘Hm,’ Viktor said, eyes sliding away from Jayce. There was a flash of that look Jayce had seen, once, when Caitlyn found Viktor’s letters; the worry in his eyes, his shoulders pulling in, confidence retreating.
‘Besides, we’re still here,’ Jayce said. ‘Not erased or anything.’
Viktor pulled a face. ‘I would also like to know why us? Again, no answers to that here. Or anywhere, I suspect.’
Now that one had bothered Jayce too.
‘You still think it’s because of my Hextech, don’t you?’
‘You, yes. It’s impossible that there is no connection at all. Me? I cannot fathom why me.’
‘One of the letters said you were susceptible to the arcane,’ Jayce pointed out.
Viktor wrinkled his nose. ‘I suppose short of asking our ‘ghosts’ we will never know. And to be quite honest, even if we could contact them I’m unsure that it would be a good idea. They may take it as an invitation.’
‘Yeah. Let’s not… Let’s not even think about how to try that.’ Jayce caught Viktor eyeing the blackboard again and, more tentatively, asked; ‘Are you all right?’
‘Uh.’ Viktor stared at him blankly. ‘Yes, I think so, yes. It’s just, as I said, disconcerting. You?’
‘No. Hextech is my life and it’s just gone! Last week, everything was going so well and then I wake up to all of this and I just can’t seem to find any of it!’ Jayce pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘I’m scared the notes are gone. And the crystals… I need those crystals.’
Viktor searched his face for a moment. ‘Then we will find the crystals.’
Jayce let out a long slow breath. ‘I hope so. Uh, I’m surprised you want us to find them after… all of this.’
‘Yes, well.’ Viktor cleared his throat. ‘The possession is… not something I ever hoped to experience. But it does appear to be only tangentially related to your Hextech theory, if even that. And Jayce? Hextech is the epitome of why I became a scientist. A discovery on an incredible scale with the potential to improve lives! It’s… Ah, I was going to ask later, but why not? If you’re looking for a second opinion on your equations going forward I would be more than happy to help.’
Half way through the process of trying to decide if he should offer Viktor food (that’s what you did when someone was upset right?), Jayce froze. Viktor wanted to help with Hextech? He thought it was worth the time and effort to help?
‘If you weren’t looking for a second opinion I fully understand,’ Viktor said hastily. ‘I’ll still aid in the search for your crystals.’
‘No, wait, of course, I mean – You really think it can work?’
Viktor blinked. ‘I see no reason why not. It’s complex, yes, and a little outlandish, but the foundation appears solid. I can’t find any mathematical reason why it shouldn’t be possible.’
‘I’d love a partner for Hextech!’ Jayce said, and oops, maybe that had been too enthusiastic. ‘If you have the time to do more than just check over my work, I guess.’
This could be wonderful! Someone to bounce ideas off. Someone who understood! Maybe it would speed up his process, maybe if Jayce couldn’t get all the lost research back Viktor could still help him make up the lost time. Maybe Hextech would actually be realised, sooner than Jayce had hoped.
‘I could certainly make time,’ Viktor said, with a small tentative looking smile.
‘But, uh, my research is currently a secret, so we wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about it yet.’
Viktor nodded a few times. ‘I remember.’
‘I’m just not sure Professor Heimerdinger will like it, even if we can get it to work,’ Jayce admitted. He’d been trying not to think about it. It’d work out if – when – he got Hextech to work.
Viktor waved off the concern as if the head of the Council’s disapproval was only a minor hurdle. ‘The Professor is an extremely intelligent person; he will see the benefits. If not at first then, eh, well. He tends to be of the belief that all things will work out given enough time. Get enough momentum behind Hextech and I think, for once, that belief will be to our advantage.’
The idea that Viktor believed in the potential of Hextech…
‘I mean, it’s… its theoretical at the moment,’ Jayce said, finding himself on the wrong side of his usual practiced (so far internal) argument.
‘Yes, yes,’ Viktor said. ‘But not forever. In the meantime, uh, maybe your secrecy should continue. Just in case.’
‘Until we have proof and momentum.’
‘Precisely.’
‘Okay,’ Jayce said. ‘Well why don’t we stay here today and you can keep reading through everything? Maybe something will still bring up memories. And I’ll try work out where we can keep searching.’
Caitlyn had school but would almost certainly have come up with her own new ideas. Between the three of them surely they could think of something.
* * *
Jayce woke up, groaned at the events of the last few days, and staggered out to get breakfast. He’d made it to the fridge before he noticed his chair was still occupied. Jayce had tidied the guest room and everything, but whether Viktor had ever meant to use it wasn’t clear. It looked like he’d just slowly slumped forward until he was face down on the desk.
Leaning sideways, Jayce could see where the notebook had fallen out of his hand and onto the floor. And, somehow, he had a line of ink on his forehead.
Jayce grinned.
He started to make coffee and was rewarded by a soft sigh from the general direction of the desk.
‘Morning!’ Jayce called.
‘Ah, Jayce, I had an idea,’ Viktor said, pushing himself upright and waving a hand. ‘Not Hextech related – uh, well, I had some ideas about that too… many ideas… But, eh, a different idea. I did not tell you but I woke up in the Undercity, not in my apartment after the… uhhhhh. Possession. I didn’t see anything unusual around but I was not particularly looking. Perhaps we should check that area for the crystals.’
His hair was sticking up wildly on one side and he was rubbing sleep from his eyes with the hand that wasn’t illustrating his words through the air.
‘Coffee?’ Jayce asked.
‘Yes, please, I think that will be necessary.’ Viktor yawned.
‘I already checked down in the Undercity and, apparently, nearly got stabbed,’ Jayce reminded him, handing Viktor the coffee.
Viktor smiled a little. ‘Yes, but despite what your enthusiastic teenage detective might believe, there’s plenty of places where you will not be stabbed. Eh, probably. Particularly if you wear something else. In any case, we can assume that Ghost Two did not check where I was, because you never found me.’
‘What’s wrong with my clothes?’ Jayce asked. ‘I’ve been down to the Undercity before dressed like this. I buy parts down there sometimes.’
‘Mm hm,’ Viktor said. ‘But we can make you stand out less. I will also change out of my Academy uniform.’
‘Okay.’ Jayce tried to shrug off the implications that he couldn’t blend in. ‘Sure, no problem. But, isn’t the Undercity kind of busy? Won’t everything have been stolen?’
‘The area is isolated.’
‘How isolated?’
‘I was the only one there.’ Viktor took a sip of coffee. ‘My point is, barring other leads, it may be worth a check.’
Barring other leads. Jayce winced.
‘It’s something,’ Jayce said. ‘I don’t want to check any more dumpsters.’
Viktor’s eyebrow quirked and he smiled, which, in hindsight, should have been Jayce’s first warning.
By the time they’d got changed – Jayce was wearing clothes he’d usually only wear in the forge – and made their way over the bridge and down into the depths of the Undercity, Jayce was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. By the time he was following Viktor down jumbled rocks into the depths of the fissures with a sharp chemical smell wafting up towards him, Jayce knew it wasn’t a good idea.
But his research might be down there.
‘A little further that way is the border of Piltover and the Undercity here,’ Viktor said casually as the source of the smell revealed itself to be a stream of toxic looking green liquid covered in some kind of oil-like sheen. ‘There’s no easy way up there from here, of course, but that is where it is.’
Jayce craned his neck to look up above them, where he supposed Piltover might be up there. Way up there. Nowhere in Piltover smelt like this. Not even the dumpsters.
Part of the stream was even bubbling, with no obvious cause. It trickled away through jumbles of rocks, into what looked like a system of caves.
Jayce watched Viktor make his way over the rocks, carefully planting his cane between them, checking the nooks and crannies for any possible hiding places for Jayce’s research. Trying to see if Viktor had found anything, Jayce missed a step and his foot caught on a rock, sending him stumbling and hopping after Viktor. Damn it.
Half turning, Viktor watched him with a bemused look.
‘You, ow.’ Jayce hopped another step, yeah, he’d bruised that. ‘You slept down here?’
‘Mm? Why not? There’s food and water.’ Viktor gestured at the toxic green liquid, making its slow way down into the caves, and then at some kind of small, weird, salamander lizard thing, which scuttled away.
‘Uh?’ said Jayce.
Viktor chuckled. ‘I had supplies. Besides, if you remember, it was not my choice to sleep here.’
‘Yeah, Ghost One, I know.’ Jayce sighed.
He peered into the nearest cave. It didn’t go very far in; not unless you counted the crack at the far side which Jayce definitely wouldn’t fit in. One of the lizards stuck its head out, watching Jayce suspiciously. Yeah, well, Jayce would also rather he wasn’t there, so it could just deal with it.
Further ahead, Viktor ducked back out of another little indent of a cave, shaking his head.
‘What is that?’ Jayce asked, pointing at the stream as it bubbled ominously again.
‘Factory run off,’ Viktor said. ‘Mostly.’
Mostly. Perfect. Great answer.
It had probably dissolved all of Jayce’s research just by proximity.
To stop himself from putting a hand on the nearest rock wall – covered by a dubious layer of slime of course – Jayce put his hand in his jacket pocket. And immediately his fingers touched a piece of paper.
Pulling it from his pocket, Jayce found it to be no more than a scrap, really, with only a single sentence written on it:
I trust you will take care of the rest of it.
‘Viktor?’ Jayce called. ‘Hey, Viktor! I found something in my pocket.’
‘In your pocket?’ Viktor emerged from a shallow cave and made his way over. ‘Oh. Another note.’
‘Yeah, but…’ Jayce gave it to him. ‘Is this your handwriting?’
‘Yes.’ Viktor shoved the note back into Jayce’s hand. ‘This just keeps getting better.’
‘I’m guessing you don’t remember writing it?’
Viktor pursed his lips and shook his head.
Jayce took a step forward and straight into a puddle of the stream, half evaporated to form more of a sludge. ‘Oh god. Urgh. Look, I don’t see anything here. Is there anything further down in the caves?’
‘Mm, not really. The caves are not accessible enough to carry much that way anyway,’ Viktor said. ‘Even for people with two good legs.’
‘Great. Okay. Let’s get out of here then. I think we can definitely say we’ve checked.’ Jayce winced. ‘Urgh. I don’t know why Ghost One wanted to be down here. Just… let’s go. God, I can see why no one comes here.’
‘I used to play down here as a child,’ Viktor said.
‘Ha ha,’ Jayce said. ‘Very funny.’
Viktor raised both eyebrows, didn’t crack a smile, and started heading back the way they came.
But he’d definitely been joking… right?
* * *
Caitlyn was waiting outside his apartment.
‘Jayce,’ she complained. ‘Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you all morning.’
Jayce opened the door and ushered both her and Viktor inside. Viktor, despite having seemingly navigated the depths of the Undercity just fine, lowered himself down onto Jayce’s chair immediately and massaged his leg just above the knee.
‘We were looking for my research, Cait,’ Jayce said. ‘It turns out Viktor woke up in the Undercity, so we were checking the area.’
Caitlyn looked like the only thing stopping her from stomping her foot was her Kiramman upbringing. ‘You went to the Undercity without me?’
‘Come on,’ Jayce said, sighing. ‘You know you’re not allowed down there.’
‘What if someone had stabbed you and you needed someone to go for help?’ Caitlyn asked.
‘Viktor was with me.’
‘What if Viktor had stabbed you?’
Viktor snorted.
‘I’m sorry, Viktor,’ Caitlyn said, ‘but, really, we just met you a few days ago writing weird notes to yourself.’
‘We both survived,’ Jayce said, not daring to look at Viktor’s face. ‘No sign of my research, though.’
‘Okay,’ Caitlyn said, ‘but next time you have to take me.’
‘Sprout – ’
‘I just want to look. And if I went with you, I’d be safe.’
‘You were literally just worried about Viktor stabbing me.’
‘Excuse me,’ Viktor said, from across the room. ‘But I promise to refrain from stabbing either of you, provided you stop bickering about it. If you persist in bickering about it, then I cannot be held responsible for my actions.’
‘You said you were handy with a knife,’ Caitlyn pointed out.
‘Ah, no, I said I might be.’
‘Okay,’ Jayce said. ‘No one’s been stabbed and no one is going to be stabbed. I’m going to make tea. Can we please focus on finding my research?’
‘Jayce, isn’t this your research on your desk?’ Caitlyn asked, pointing.
‘That’s my older notes,’ Jayce called as he entered the kitchen. ‘Way out of date, but Viktor wanted to see them.’
‘Viktor’s allowed to know about Hextech?’ Caitlyn asked.
‘Yeah.’
As he put the kettle on, Jayce heard Caitlyn tell Viktor; ‘Jayce is going to make magic. He’s going to change the world.’
Smiling to himself, Jayce managed to miss Viktor’s reply but when he got back into the room Caitlyn glanced up at him.
‘I think we should go door to door again,’ she said.
‘I really didn’t get anywhere with that,’ Jayce said.
‘I know,’ Caitlyn said, ‘but I made this whole map of where we should go to knock on doors. You see, your notes already mentioned the Undercity and we already know Viktor went back to his apartment, so I’ve been looking at possible routes he might have taken to either of those and Viktor kind of stands out so I thought we’d ask who’d seen him.’
‘Hm,’ Viktor said. ‘That is all very well and good, yet I still think we’re not considering that I simply could not have moved that chest.’
‘Obviously Ghost One had help, somehow,’ Caitlyn said. ‘So the two of us go around knocking and asking if anyone saw Viktor with someone else.’
‘The two of us?’ Jayce asked, gesturing at all three of them.
Caitlyn gave him her very best exasperated look. ‘Viktor can’t go around asking if anyone’s seen him, Jayce.’
‘She has a point,’ Viktor said. ‘I will be quite happy to stay here and continue to read up on Hextech. And with this new note it is, eh, not impossible there was someone else involved.’
‘New note?’ Caitlyn asked immediately.
‘I found it in my pocket.’ Jayce dug it out again and handed it to her. ‘Viktor’s handwriting.’
‘See?’ Caitlyn said, excitedly. ‘Ghost One wasn’t working alone and, oh my god Jayce, maybe Ghost Two found out who he was working with and found this note! Urgh, I wish you remembered that.’
‘If we remembered any of it,’ Viktor said. ‘We wouldn’t have to search for Jayce’s research.’
‘I know,’ Caitlyn said. ‘I was just saying. Anyway, obviously my plan is the right one, taking this new information into account.’
‘I guess we’re door knocking again.’ Jayce sighed. He wandered back into the kitchen to get the tea. He was definitely going to drink that, eat something, shower, and get dressed in non-forge clothes before this next stage of the plan.
Jayce had only just picked up the teapot when someone knocked on the door.
‘Cait,’ Jayce hissed, hurrying back towards her. ‘Caitlyn. Please tell me that isn’t your mother?’
‘No, can’t be,’ Caitlyn said. ‘She’s busy today.’
‘And you should be in school!’
‘She won’t notice! I told the school I was needed for family stuff, so they wouldn’t look for me.’ Caitlyn eyed the door uncertainly.
Jayce glanced down at his forge clothes, straightened them as best he could and opened the door to face… his mother. A flurry of movement behind him alerted him to something going on, but Jayce didn’t dare look around.
‘Mom? Hi?’
‘Jayce, I know you were just around yesterday,’ Ximena said. ‘But some of the forge workers have been complaining – oh, Viktor’s here. And Caitlyn. How lovely to see you both!’
‘Hello, Ximena,’ said Caitlyn cheerfully.
‘Good afternoon, Mrs Talis,’ Viktor said, but his eyes flicked nervously towards the blackboard, where he’d clearly just folded in the two hinged extensions, hiding the weird message.
Oh shit. That had been close.
‘What was that about the forge workers?’ Jayce asked quickly to hide his reaction.
‘They said you’d promised to move your things out of the storage room by today,’ Ximena said. ‘Did you get side-tracked again, Jayce? I don’t know how long you’ve been using it, but you really can’t go around cluttering it up for too long. I said you’d move it by tomorrow at the latest.’
‘But – ‘ Jayce stopped himself.
Maybe he did forget about things and get side tracked and way too focused on things but… he definitely hadn’t left anything at the forge. He glanced over Ximena’s shoulder and Viktor raised a single eyebrow. Yeah. Definitely related to the ghosts. He needed to get to the forge, ASAP.
‘Surely you will invite your mother in for tea, Jayce,’ said Viktor, the traitor.
‘Yeah, of course, I just made some,’ Jayce said, trying not to glare. ‘Um, I’ll just clean up some of these papers.’
In the end, Viktor tidied up the papers while Jayce fetched the tea. Caitlyn was sitting prim and proper on one cushioned stool and talking to Ximena about her mother’s latest Councillor’s party while Viktor stared off into the distance, tapping his fingers on his cane.
‘And Professor Heimerdinger was late, of course,’ Caitlyn was saying. ‘Which offends mother greatly, but she can’t say as much and she’s pretty sure he’s not even doing it on purpose.’
‘He is not,’ Viktor put in. ‘He fully intends to be on time, but when that time arrives he’s seldom ready. I’m quite certain he isn’t trying to offend Councillor Kiramman.’
Caitlyn heaved a sigh. ‘She knows. She still complains about it.’
Jayce put the tea down, catching Viktor’s eye and trying to communicate with a look exactly how much it was his fault that Jayce wasn’t currently searching the forge for whatever Ghost Two had left there. A tiny little smirk graced Viktor’s face before he quirked a single eyebrow at Jayce. Okay. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Viktor tilted his head very slightly towards Ximena and raised both eyebrows.
Huh? Jayce frowned at him.
The Council party conversation was heading to a close as Viktor turned to Jayce less subtly.
‘Ah, Jayce, you didn’t mention that you used the family forge. I’ve always thought House Talis made such beautiful tools.’
‘Thanks,’ Jayce said, trying to frown less now that Ximena and Caitlyn were also watching him. ‘I guess I learnt a bit of metal work from my dad.’
‘Jayce is being so modest,’ Ximena said and leaned forward to say, sotto voice; ‘He’s really very good. It’s just that his mind works so fast that we had to send him to the Academy.’
‘But you still use the forge?’ Viktor asked, all false innocence. ‘What was the latest project?’
All right. He was a genius and interested in Jayce’s research and possibly the most fascinating person Jayce had ever met… which was a shame because Jayce was going to have to kill him.
‘I don’t remember,’ Jayce said through gritted teeth.
‘Oh Jayce,’ Ximena sighed. ‘You’ve left an entire chest of things in the storeroom and you can’t remember why? Oh dear. Please do move it before the workers complain again.’
Triumph flashed over Viktor’s face before he schooled it back into polite interest and Jayce felt his eyes nearly bug out of his head. Holy shit. Holy shit! The crystals!
Caitlyn slapped a hand over her own mouth, fortunately when Ximena wasn’t looking; her eyes shining with delight.
‘I’m sorry, did I say something?’ Ximena asked.
‘Um,’ Jayce said. ‘I’ve actually been looking for that. Forgot where I put it.’
The rest of his mother’s visit passed agonisingly slowly and Jayce didn’t remember a minute of it. He was sure he took part in the conversation, but he had no idea what he said. The chest of crystals. It was at the forge.
He did his absolute best not to usher Ximena out of the door too enthusiastically, but the second he closed it behind her he turned to stare at Caitlyn and Viktor.
‘It’s got to be the crystals,’ Jayce said.
‘It must have been Ghost Two!’ Caitlyn exclaimed in a rush that suggested she’d also wanted to say it for a while. ‘Ghost Two moved the chest!’
Jayce glanced at Viktor, who was watching him steadily. ‘Okay, go on. Just say it.’
‘I told you so,’ said Viktor.
Caitlyn sniggered.
‘And I think we should go to your family’s forge,’ Viktor continued. ‘Eh, I would offer to go by myself, but I fear I could not carry – ‘
‘Okay! I get it. I get it.’ Jayce held up his hands in surrender. ‘Now are you guys coming with me to the forge or not?’
* * *
Jayce hurried across to the storage room he always used for his things at the Talis forge. Assuming Ghost Two had known to use that one. But he must have, right? Because he’d been pretending to be Jayce.
‘We should have studied Ghost Two’s movements,’ Caitlyn said for the thousandth time. ‘What a huge hole in our investigation! We shouldn’t have assumed the diary to be the only thing Ghost Two was doing! We wasted days! Oh Jayce, if this had been a kidnapping I would have messed it up so badly!’
‘It’s okay, Sprout,’ Jayce said. ‘No harm no foul this time, right? And you’ll be more careful next time for sure.’
Viktor came to a stop behind them and gestured at the door in front of Jayce. ‘The storeroom in question I presume?’
‘The moment of truth,’ Jayce said, producing the key.
‘Won’t that actually be when we open the chest?’ Caitlyn piped up. ‘I mean, the crystals might not even be in there.’
Jayce stared at her, aghast.
‘We won’t know until we look,’ Viktor said firmly, in a tone that suggested the possibility had already occurred to him.
Now with shaking hands, Jayce fumbled at the lock, threw the door open, and his jaw dropped. His Hex crystal chest with its golden decoration was there all right, but next to it was a plain wooden chest too, one that had also been in Jayce’s apartment.
‘Is one of those the chest we were looking for?’ Viktor asked.
‘This is it,’ Jayce whispered, dropping to his knees and reaching slowly for the lid. This really was the moment of truth.
Catching first Caitlyn’s eyes, then Viktor’s, Jayce gave a small nod. He flicked the catch and the chest unlocked itself, the lid sliding open to reveal…
The Hex crystals. All of them safely in their places.
‘Oh thank god,’ Jayce said, relief turning all his muscles to jelly. He didn’t think he could have stood up right then even if he’d wanted to.
Caitlyn squeal of delight came half a second before she hugged him from behind. ‘We found them!’
Jayce shared a grin with her. ‘We did.’
The tap of a cane alerted him before Viktor lowered himself down beside Jayce. ‘These are the crystals from your notes? Fascinating.’
‘Yeah.’ Jayce breathed out slowly. ‘Yeah. And I just want to check…’
The second chest wasn’t even locked; Jayce lifted the lid and uncovered scrolls and books. All Hextech related. Not his most current notebook. Not most of his carved runes. Not everything by a long shot. But more than he’d hoped for. Even if they never found what Ghost One had done with Jayce’s stuff, he now had something.
‘I wonder why both ghosts moved Hextech stuff,’ Caitlyn said in a hushed tone. ‘Do you think Ghost Two moved this after Ghost One took things?’
‘I don’t care,’ Jayce said. ‘I mean, sure, I care if that’s why it got saved. But it’s here, Cait!’
‘This will be enough to set us back on the right path, yes?’ Viktor asked.
‘For sure.’
‘Wait, us?’ Caitlyn asked.
‘Viktor’s going to be working with me on Hextech.’ Jayce said, putting a hand on Viktor’s shoulder. ‘We’re going to be research partners.’
Viktor gave him a quick smile and reached for a crystal. ‘Mind if I…?’
‘Uh, just be careful. They, well, if you drop them they might, uhh, release energy. Really fast.’
‘Oh yes, I do remember that from the notes.’ Viktor plucked a crystal from the chest and examined it closely. ‘Such incredible potential.’
Jayce resisted the urge to cup his hands below Viktor’s, just in case.
‘I guess we’re really not paying attention to the whole ‘susceptible to the arcane’ thing?’ Caitlyn asked, watching Viktor holding the crystal. ‘From the letters?’
‘Susceptible to the arcane.’ Viktor shook his head. ‘Utter nonsense. What is it even supposed to mean? Mages are susceptible to the arcane. I am no mage.’
Jayce grinned at him again and stared down at the chest full of scrolls. They’d really found it. Yeah, he’d lost some, but he was sure Viktor’s help would make up for that in no time. Really, it was a net gain. He had a partner. New ideas! And if the reference to ‘Hexgates’ in the notebook meant what it sounded like; actual proof that not only was Hextech possible, but that he’d succeed!
In no time at all, Jayce was sure he and Viktor would be bringing magic to Piltover.
Beside him, Caitlyn was still talking about the letters, even though Jayce was inclined to agree with Viktor. They just made no sense. It’d be fine.
‘So we’re still not worried about you wanting world domination then?’ Caitlyn asked.
Jayce chuckled. It really did sound ridiculous.
‘Eh, I’m sure if I try to take over the world Jayce will be more than capable of stopping me. In the meantime –’ Viktor tossed the crystal up into the air, catching it one handed and producing a single blue spark ‘ – we have magic to research.’