Chapter Text
"Caitlyn, darling, everyone's waiting for you downstairs. Why aren't you dressed yet?"
Caitlyn was sitting on the floor, knees tucked up against her chest, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The navy blue dress her mother had bought her lay flat on her bed. Cassandra had come into her room an hour earlier and helped Caitlyn do her hair. To be precise, Caitlyn had simply sat in front of the mirror, and her mother had done all the work. She had tied her daughter's hair into a low bun just above her neck, with not a single strand out of place. When Cassandra left the room, Caitlyn hastily pulled at her hair, freeing small strands on either side of her face, which her mother had of course forbidden her to do. But since then, Caitlyn had not moved.
"Caitlyn, is everything all right?"
Tobias approached slowly and sat down next to his daughter, observing her face in the mirror's reflection.
"I don't like being here. I wanted to stay in Ionia."
Her father nodded. Tobias Kiramman was an excellent doctor, perhaps even the best the Piltover Academy had ever trained. During his studies, he had fallen in love with a brunette with ocean-blue eyes, married her, and a few years later, a little girl with those same eyes but his hair was born. This series of events had prompted him to stay and live in Piltover, but he had not forgotten the place where he had grown up, in the heart of the mountains of Ionia. Thus, the Kiramman family had a tradition they never broke: spending the summer in the small village where Tobias's parents still lived. Caitlyn spent her days exploring the countryside with her father while her mother worked at home. Tobias taught her to live with nature and listen to its magic. Caitlyn looked a lot like her mother physically, but when he saw her running through the meadows of Ionia, Tobias saw himself at the same age. So he understood perfectly his daughter's sadness when summer ended and they returned to Piltover, where the pompous elite and political scandals awaited them.
"Caitlyn, can you keep a secret for me?"
She looked up at her father with her big blue eyes and nodded slightly. He leaned towards her and whispered softly in her ear.
"I don't like being here either."
Caitlyn let out a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand, and Tobias smiled at his daughter.
"But I'm not worried, because I know I'll be back in Ionia very soon. By the way, I have something for you."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue box decorated with gold details.
"I was going to wait until your birthday to give it to you, but I think now is the right time."
Caitlyn looked at her father confused, her head tilted to one side.
"Didn't I give you a necklace last year?"
She jumped up and rushed to the edge of her bed. Her father had given her a necklace with a pendant in the shape of the emblem of Ionia, which she retrieved from her bedside table. When she returned to him, Tobias, still sitting on the floor, sat her on his lap, facing him, before holding out his hand to her. He took the necklace she held out to him and slid the pendant into a small slot on the side of the box, then turned it three times.
The silence in the room was replaced by the notes played by the little box, and Caitlyn's big blue eyes widened.
"It's my lullaby! The one grandma used to sing to you too! "
"You can listen to it before you go to sleep, and it will be as if you were in Ionia, listening to nature sing. On the wind, cross the sea, hear this song and remember..."
Tobias's voice was soft as he sang, and Caitlyn sang the following words with him.
"Soon you'll be, home with me, once upon a December..."
Caitlyn leaned forward, and Tobias closed his arms around her. His little girl was already ten years old, and yet sometimes he still saw the five-year-old she used to be, to whom he sang this lullaby at night before bed. He took a deep breath and let a few moments pass before taking his daughter by the shoulders and pulling her slightly away from him.
"Why don't you put on that dress? Your mother is waiting for us."
Caitlyn nodded and stood up, followed closely by her father.
"I'll wait for you downstairs with your mother. We'll leave in ten minutes, all right?"
He closed the door behind him and went down the marble steps leading to the living room, where he found Cassandra waiting for him, her coat already on her shoulders, the scent of her peppermint perfume wafting through the air.
"Where is Caitlyn ?"
"She will be there shortly, my dear. I'm afraid she wasn't exactly thrilled about this gala we are attending." He answered smiling, taking his wife by the hand.
"She takes after you an awful lot." Her face was stern but her voice was soft, with such a faint amount of humour that only someone who knew her well could detect it.
"Mum, Dad, I'm ready !" Caitlyn's little voice echoed through the stairs, accompanied by the sound of her feet on the marble stairs.
Her parents turned around, hands still joined as the girl surged forwards and hugged them both at the same time.
"Caitlyn, dear, I believe this behaviour isn't appropriate for a proper young lady." Cassandra remarked, but crouched down nonetheless, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "What have you done to your hair ?"
Caitlyn tucked the little strands of hair she had freed behind her ears, looking at the ground to avoid her mother's disapproving glare.
"We will have a talk about it later, young lady, but for now, let's get going, we would not want to be late to the ball, would we ? I believe Mel is going to be there too."
They made their way our the immense doors of the Kiramman mansion, setting foot on the snow covered streets, the young girl holding one of her parents hand in each of her own. Caitlyn was wrapped in her thick navy cloak, embroidered of the golden Kiramman crest on the back, the little music box safely hidden in her pocket. A few white snowflakes were gently falling on them, making the girl's hair match the starry night sky above their heads.
The winter had settled on Piltover, baring the trees of their leaves and covering the streets with its cold white coat, but the city's lights were casting their warm hue over the snowy cobblestones, leading the way to the counsel building. For the city's two hundredth anniversary, the white stone Counsel building had been decorated with golden emblems and colourful ribbons, and the stairs in front of it had been draped with a red carpet on which prestigious visitors from the entire nation and abroad where now stepping. The guest were all dressed in long ball dresses and expensive suits, battling in a silent fight to prove how much richer and more important they were compared to the others.
Caitlyn grabbed her mother by the hand, holding on tight as they made their way on the red carpet, where Cassandra took time to greet each individual personally, while her daughter hid behind her, granting some a timid hand wave, and a simple head bow to others.
The air inside the building was warmer, and filled with the scent of the food being served to the guest on silver platters. The hall was packed with people from all around Runeterra, engaged in intense conversations, the maddening political drama wrapped in kind and polite words. Some heads turned when they entered, and Cassandra barely had time to take off her coat before being dragged into a engaging conversation with a demacian noblewoman, still taking the time to place a gentle kiss on her daughter's forehead. Tobias helped his daughter out of her cloak, and smiled upon seeing how beautiful his little girl looked in her dress. The navy fabric was embroidered with golden thread along the trim of her sleeves, matching her gold Ionian pendant.
"You look perfect, dear." He whispered to her ear, bent forwards slightly, resting his hands on her shoulders, earning a proud smile from Caitlyn.
While most guests were, of course, more interested in conversing with Cassandra, a few stopped by them, complimenting Caitlyn on her appearance and giving Tobias congratulations on raising such a perfect daughter. All the while, he was smiling broadly, beaming with pride.
"Caity !"
The young girl turn around to find the voice calling out to her, a bright smile on her face when she noticed Mel running towards her.
"Mel ! Mum said you would be there but I didn't believe her !"
She hugged the girl, who was even taller than she remembered from the last time Mel had visited Piltover.
"Mother wouldn't have missed this. She told me it was an opportunity to strengthen Noxus' commercial connections."
"Mel, come here, child." Ambessa's voice came, deep and strict, and Mel offered Caitlyn a wave of her hand before running back to her mother.
Caitlyn looked around, quickly finding Tobias in the crowd, his blue hair making him noticeable. Father and daughter eventually made it to the main room, and Caitlyn eyes widened in show. The round table her mother usually sat at had been removed along with the chairs, and people were now dancing there, dresses twirling along with the melody playing in the air. The room was lit only by the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and some candlesticks, and their light cast a golden hue over the dancing guests, under which every smile seemed warmer and every move smoother. Tobias waited to ear the ending notes of the current song before bowing in front of Caitlyn, holding his hand out to her.
"Caitlyn, dearest, would you dance with me ?"
She giggled while taking his hand, and followed his lead when the music started playing. Each song had an assigned dance, and while they where supposed to waltz to the current melody, neither of them cared. Tobias was holding her right hand, twirling her around to the violin notes, earning more giggles from his daughter. When the sound of her laughing got too loud, a few heads turned towards them, but no one actually interrupted them, either too afraid of Cassandra's fury or genuinely warmed by the sweet sight. Caitlyn's dress was playing the part perfectly, the layers twirling with each motions and the sparkles of the fabric catching the golden light. Even more giggles escaped the young girl when her father lifted her up in a swift motion, twirling her around in the air and holding her against his chest. He couldn't care less for the few disapproving looks he got, rather admiring the sparkles he could almost see shining in his daughter's eyes.
A crack.
Before he could react, he was shoved out of the way by an enforcer in uniform, just in time to avoid being crushed by the crystal chandelier that came crashing down from the ceiling. The room instantly lost its warm ambiance as a shadow when through the door, steps echoing in the now silent room. Instinctively, Tobias held Caitlyn closer, his daughter hiding her face in his neck. He hadn't noticed Cassandra rushing towards them before she put herself in front of them protectively, facing the strange man entering.
"Well, isn't it Counselor Kiramman, and her little family ?" The man's raspy voice came, sending a chill down Caitlyn's back. She didn't know him, but the stiffness in her mother's back was telling her he wasn't welcomed here. Cassandra's eyes were slightly narrowed, her brows furrowed, shooting quick glances at the enforcers around the room.
"What are you doing here ?" Cassandra's voice was sharp, but still trembled on the last word from the fear this man seemed to trigger in her.
Two other men entered after the first one, not making a sound, but smiling with crooked teeth.
"But, Dear Counselor, I'm here to take my place amongst you. As the new Counselor from Zaun." His left eye caught the light, shining with a dark orange light, revealing the scar around it that coursed on his cheek.
A few gasps erupted in the room, as a scoff escaped from Cassandra.
"You're not a Counselor. You haven't deserved a seat at that table."
"Oh but dear Counselor, didn't I warn you of what would happen otherwise ?"
He slowly reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a glass tube containing a shimmery purple liquid, and handed it to the man next to him, a chilling grin on his face.
Caitlyn didn't see what happened next, her father holding her tightly to his chest, but she did hear the growling sound that escaped the man, and the sound of the glass ampule shattering on the floor.
Screams. And the odour of blood. Not faint like when she scrapped her knees. Pungent like they were drowning in it. Glass shattering on the ground from people dropping their drinks to run.
Along this overwhelming cacophony, Caitlyn could still make out one sound, the only one that truly made her shiver. A laugh. Deep. Calm. Satisfied.
The hall was plunged in chaos. Tobias tried keeping up with Cassandra as they ran, but his wife was quickly drowned in the crowd, her brunette hair mixing with the other guest until he could not differentiate his wife from the others. He looked around in this building he once knew his way around, but it seemed like the walls had shifted since. He felt like he had been running for hours when he finally found a corner in the room, hidden behind a pillar, where they could escape the chaos for a second. He set Caitlyn down on her feet, struggling with his breathing, fear obvious in his eyes.
"Caitlyn, stay here, I'll come back for you, I promise."
His voice seemed calm, but he kept avoiding her gaze, like he was hiding something, even though she knew what. Maybe he wouldn't come back. She had saw the blood and bodies on the ground.
She closed her eyes and curled up on the floor, feeling her father's lips on her forehead before she was left alone in this hidden corner of the hall.
She would wait. Everything would be over soon.
"On the wind… Cross the sea…" Her voice was small and broke on the last word but she carried on.
"Hear this song and remember…"
A burnt smell.
"Soon you'll be home with me…"
A growl.
"Once upon a…"
She felt a sharp pull at her hair, but her eyes refused to open. She kicked in every direction, few punch landing, even fewer effective. Her throat felt burning from screaming even though she couldn't hear her own voice. Then she dropped to the floor again, a loud thud echoing next to her.
Her eyes crept open, catching a patch of pink-reddish hair and a bloodied hand grabbing her arm.
"Come."
She couldn't feel her body get up, but her feet seemed to know what to do on their own accord.
A girl. With grey eyes. She pushed on a wood panel of the wall, revealing a passage paved with cobblestones.
Caitlyn's mind finally registered the sounds around her, and she noticed her own unconscious humming of her lullaby.
"Wait, I have to find my music box !"
"We don't have time."
The girl pushed her through the wall opening, forcing her into the passage, shutting the panel behind her.
It was too dark to see anything, but it seemed to flair all her senses into alert.
"Where is she ? Answer me, child !"
The raspy voice of the one eyed man came, sending a chill down her body. Her fear fogged mind forced her to turn around, running as far as she could in the darkness of the passage. Her feet caught on he cobblestones a few times, but the faint light at the end of the tunnel got her to continue running. She pushed on the wooden door she faced, stepping on the snow outside the building and froze, the true state of her fright finally sinking into her mind.
A growl came behind her, muffled by the door, and her mind kept screaming at her to run.
Her eyes caught on the bridge. It was dark and felt almost menacing, but she found herself running towards it, ignoring the burning feeling of her tears on her cheeks. Caitlyn feet kept slipping on the icy cobblestones, and she struggled to keep herself up, while the cold air was freezing her fingertips. It felt like hours but barely seconds at the same time before she was on the other side, stepping on the streets of Zaun.
She could barely feel her legs. The streets of the undercity were colder than the ones in the topside, and she wasn't familiar with them. She just kept running until the sound of chaos and glass breaking was replaced by the quiet hum of the city around her.
"Mum !"
Her cry echoed against the cobblestones of the empty street.
"Dad !"
The cold air was burning her lungs, and her screams were quickly turned into whispers, but she kept on calling for her parents until her whole body collapsed from the exhaustion. She settled on the floor, wrapped as best as she could in the remaining of her dress. Her parents would come for her. That's what they had told her. If she was lost, to just stay where she was and wait for them to get her. But would they come all the way there for her ?
She was cold. That's the last thing she could remember before slipping into darkness.