JAYCE WAS QUIET the entire walk home. Luz and Ximena were happy that Jayce had not been exiled, but by looking at Jayce's face you would have guessed it was quite the opposite. Luz didn't understand, he was coming home and all he got was a slap on the wrist. He was expelled from the Academy but it wasn't like his life was over, Jayce could always join the family business. When they got home Jayce walked into the house, leaving his soaking wet coat on the coat rack before heading to his room, closing his door without saying a single word to either of them. Ximena shook her head, taking off her coat and boots, a frown on her face as she watched her son avoid her, "It's not fair," Luz whined.

Ximena tilted her head as she looked at her youngest child, "What do you mean?"

"Jayce is safe because of us, because of what you said but now he hates us."

"He doesn't hate us," Ximena said softly as she looked at her boy's door, it was painted a faded light blue, the same way it was when Jayce had asked her late husband to paint it years ago. "He's just upset, I'll talk to him—"

"Can I?" Luz asked, playing with her wet hair as she remembered the sobbing mess she had been in earlier, she needed to talk to him so that she could know all of this was real, that he was safe.

Ximena knitted her eyebrows, her eyes focused on the cut above Luz's eyebrow. She smiled softly as her hand grazed over the cut, moving Luz's hair out of her face, "You can talk to him but you need rest, make sure you sit, okay?"

Luz nodded, "I will mum."

Luz opened Jayce's door without knocking, finding the young adult sitting on the edge of his bed, his eyes glued on his bracelet. Luz's brown eyes focused on the bracelet, it was a leather strap with a gem in the middle, and the gem had runes on it, when Luz had asked Jayce what to runes meant, his eyes beamed as he excitedly told her about the time he and their mother had taken a trip to Ximena's home kingdom, on their way back they got trapped in a blizzard, Ximena was pregnant, they were lost but a mage heard Jayce's cries for help. He used the gem to get them back home and then gave him the stone without saying a word. Luz never knew what she thought about the story, truthfully she was always left with questions. Why did he save them? Why did he give Jayce the stone? How did he but no one else hear Jayce? Why was a mage in a blizzard? As annoyed as she was that Jayce could never answer her questions, she knew he was even more annoyed that he couldn't answer them. Maybe that was why Jayce spent his entire life trying to recreate Magic, then he could finally have an answer.

"Luz!" He exclaimed as he darted his face away from her, wiping his eyes.

Luz frowned, "She had to say it."

Jayce scoffed, still not looking at Luz.

Luz stepped further into the room, sitting down next to him as she finally let her head rest. She let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, immediate relief shooting through her body as her head momentarily stopped ringing. Jayce noticed the shift, his expression softening, "How bad is it?"

Luz shook her head, "It's fine Jay, just a small cut." Jayce didn't believe her, lightly touching her bandage, she flinched away from his hand, "Don't—"

"You could have died, Cait— How's Caitlyn?"

"She's fine, not even a scratch."

Jayce let out a sigh of relief, if anything happened to Caitlyn or Luz, he never would have forgiven himself, "What about you? You were bleeding pretty bad."

"Oh—" he placed a hand over his stomach, "It's fine."

"It's not fine, I- I almost thought," she teared up as she remembered when she woke up, the few seconds that she thought she had lost her brother, "I thought you—"

"I'm fine, I promise." Luz nodded, trying to smile as her emotion betrayed her, she let out a small sob, gasping as she hugged him. Jayce froze, usually, he loved hugs but he couldn't comfort her, his hands felt numb as they wrapped back around her.

The hug was tight, Jayce didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. He held her, feeling her small sobs press into his chest as he thought about everything. It was no coincidence that he had been robbed the same day he went to the Undercity, a bitter taste roamed in his mouth as he realised that whoever robbed him, must've followed him and Luz back from the Undercity. His grip on Luz almost subconsciously tightened as he realised that he had put her in danger twice today. "Jayce..." she muttered as she looked up at him. "I'm sorry that you were expelled from the academy, I agree with Mum, she had to say what she said but... I know how much the Academy meant to you."

Jayce's chest tightened at her words. His study, his research, it was all gone, ripped from him in seconds but Luz didn't do it and at the end of the day, neither did his mother. He knows this, but he could have convinced the council if they had just let him speak. "I need to be alone," he muttered.

Jayce felt his heart twist as he saw her hurt expression. Guilt immediately floods him, and he looks away from her. "Please."

She got up, wiping her eyes as she walked towards the door, "You know you can talk to me right? I know you're upset."

His face hardened as he tried to mask his anguish, "I'll talk to you soon, I- I promise."

She paused at the door, her hands shaking as she grabbed the door handle, she wanted to say more, to show Jayce that this wasn't the end of the world, that she was here for him but didn't know what else to say. She took a deep breath, "Okay," she whispered, her voice full of concern. Luz took one last look at him, her eyes pleading for him to change his mind but he didn't, she closed the door without arguing, a horrible feeling leaving with her.

Sitting outside Jayce's room, Ximena had her hands crossed in her lap, she waited patiently for Luz to tell her how Jayce was but judging by her daughter's expression, she already knew. She sighed, "It's okay, just give him time."

Luz shook her head, "No, it's more than that. I'm worried about him, Mum."

"I know. Come on, you need rest, we can try again in the morning."

Luz sat still for a moment, staring at Jayce's door. It felt wrong to give up, to just go to sleep while Jayce was experiencing the worst moment of his life. She wanted to help him but there was nothing she could do. "You're not the only one worried about him, Mija." Ximena's words were soft, full of understanding but also concern, Luz sighed, realising that Ximena had to worry about two children today and didn't want to make it even harder for her.

"Fine."

Ximena smiled, kissing Luz's forehead before heading towards Jayce's door, "Was he upset with me?"

Luz frowned, "Mum—"

"It's okay, you two had both had moments where you've hated me over the years," she chuckled half-heartedly. "Good night, Luz."

"Good night, Mum."

┊ ˚➶ ｡˚ ⚒️ ⚔︎

She woke with a start, her hands reaching towards her head. Her breath was heavy as she looked around the room, I'm home, she thought, I'm safe. She was struggling to breathe, flashes from her nightmare still appearing in her mind, "Jayce!" She exclaimed, remembering how her brother was hurt in her nightmare. Luz hopped out of her bed, grabbing a cardigan as she walked towards Jayce's room, she couldn't shake the bad feeling that something was wrong with Jayce.

"Jayce?" She whispered as she knocked on his door, no reply, she tried again, this time a bit louder but still quiet enough not to wake up her mother, "Jayce, wake up!"

Again, no reply. Getting increasingly more concerned, Luz reached for the door handle, praying to Janna that her brother didn't sleep naked. When she opened the door, she saw a sight that heightened her worries, he was gone. She looked at the alarm clock near his bed, it was 2 in the morning! Jayce had always been an early riser but never this early. She looked around his room, everything looked normal, other than the sheet of paper that was placed on his bed, her head was racing, a million different horrible thoughts making her vision blur. She walked towards the bed, grabbing the paper, her hands shaking, she read the first line;

"Dear Mum and Luz,

I'm sorry."

Luz's heart sank as she skimmed over the words, the colour draining from her face, 'i'm sorry' the words echoed through her mind. "No!" She explained, dropping the page on his bed, "No, no, shit!" Luz ran a hand through her hair, trying to figure out where he would go, the only place that came to her mind was the Academy, there was a balcony with a beautiful view, Luz almost cried the first time he brought her there, unable to believe that Piltover would ever look that beautiful again. The second place that came to her mind was his apartment, where this had all started.

She had to make a choice and quickly, she bit her lip, deciding that it was safest to go with the first place that had gone to her mind.

Luz ran out of the house, forgetting to put on shoes or proper clothing, grateful that she had put on her cardigan before she had entered Jayce's room but also worried that might of cost her valuable time. The night outside was quiet, eerily so, she had never seen Piltover so calm. The ground was harsh against her feet, the cold air making goosebumps riddled her body with each step. She ignored her discomfort, pushing forth until she reached the Academy.

The Academy stood tall, the pristine structure towering over her, reminding her just how big it was and how hard it was going to be to find Jayce. Much to Luz's surprise, the Academy was unlocked, the front doors wide open, allowing anyone to enter. Luz continued to run through the halls and couldn't help up remember the first time Jayce brought her here. It had been five years ago, during his first week here, he was so excited to show her around, the talk about his classes and all the scientists that had come before him that studied here. She was only eight and worried out of her mind the whole time, annoyed that her mother forced her to come here.

Luz turned sharply around the corner, her body slamming into a much larger one. She fell to the floor, the hard impact knocking her down. "What—" the lady that she had run into started. Luz looked up, her heart stopping as she realised who she had run into.

Luz forced herself to stand up, ignoring when her head started to hurt again, "Councilor Medarda," she sputtered out, "I'm so sorry!"

"Young Talis?" The Councilor asked, surprising Luz. The young girl wondered how Mel knew who she was but blushed as she remembered how she had broken down in front of the council the day before. "What are you doing here? And at this time."

"I—" Luz looked around, knowing that if she told Councilor Medarda that she was looking for Jayce he would only get in more trouble.

The Councilor looked unimpressed, looking at the young girl's shoeless feet before but at her face, "Don't you think you create enough scenes for one day? Come on, I'll take you to your mother." Mel said as she grabbed her hand, leading her to the exit.

"No!" She exclaimed, Mel, noticing the desperation in her voice. "Please, I need to find him!"

"Find who—" Mel and Luz turned the corner, Luz's eyes widening as she saw Jayce with a man trying to picklock a door. She was immediately flooded with emotions, confusion, gratitude, relief, and anger.

Mel let go of Luz's hand, suddenly understanding the situation, "Willing to risk exile for your endeavour. That's quite the conviction.

"Councilor!" Jayce exclaimed, startled that he had been caught doing, whatever the hell it was that he was doing. "What a surprise you see you, ah—"

"Wait a minute, this is not my bedroom. How could I—" the man who had previously tried to picklock the door said as he chuckled awkwardly.

Luz raised an eyebrow, both confused and annoyed by that man's statement, one minute, Luz was worried that her brother was going to hurt himself or worse, the next she found him sneaking into a man's bedroom, what—

"Please, we can prove that it works," he told Mel, still not realising that Luz was standing behind her.

Luz listened as the three of them talked about hextech about the stupid research that Jayce had almost hurt himself over. She walked to yell at him, to kick and punch him for making her think he was head twice in one day. Luz had become so lost in her thoughts that she couldn't hear the other three anymore, only the sound of a person whispering in the distance, "Someone is coming," she muttered.

"Luz?" Jayce asked, finally realising she was there. She glared at him, her eyes cloudy, he looked around at her, remembering the letter he had left on his bed. As the footsteps got closer, Councilor Medarda had prepared to walk away, stopping as Jayce whispered, "Councilor, this technology, it's real. And no matter what happens here, it's going to change our world. We should be the ones to lead it. Piltover, the land of Progress, equality, and innovation. I know it sounds impossible, but when have we ever let that stop us? Please, just give us a chance." He begged.

"One night, gentleman. Impress me, or I'd suggest you pack your bags," he turned to Luz, "I don't want to see you here again, young one." Mel turned away, vanishing around the corner as the footsteps turned away.

When the footsteps were far enough away that they couldn't hear them, Jayce turned to Luz, his voice stern, "You need to go home, Luz."

She shook her head, "No! How— How could you," her voice cracked, she balled her fist as she resisted the urge to hit him, "I thought you—"

"I know, I'm sorry."

Luz wiped her eyes, "I'm not leaving," she said, standing up straight as she watched the other man look at her with curious eyes.

He let out a heavy sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, "Okay..." He looked at the other man, uncomfortable that he was watching his little sister yell at him.

The man continued to work at the lock, occasionally looking at Jayce and Luz as they talked, "Got it!" He exclaimed.

Jayce looked at Luz, "We need to get back to work—"

"Who the fuck are you?!" Luz asked the man, annoyed that he had encouraged Jayce to sneak into a building that he was expelled from, wondering if he even knew what Jayce had almost committed.

"I'm Viktor—"

"My new partner," Jayce said with determination.

Viktor smiled, "That's right."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I can't believe this fanfic has already reached 10k words! Wild! Anyway, the next chapter will be the end of act one and then the real plot starts <3

Like, comment and tell me what you thought about the chapter!

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