Chapter Text
A stone skidding across the creek, the only noise that could be heard as the two boys waited with bated breath to see just how far the stone would go.
"That was 5 skips! And it went farther than your rock!" One of the boys, the shorter of the two, cheered as he hopped around in place, face turned up in a grin.
The other boy had the opposite reaction, he rolled his eyes and scowled at the ground, one hand perched on his cane while the other gestured towards the lake. "That was only 4 skips and you know it. Besides, the distance doesn't matter-"
"That's not what you said when your rock went farther than mine!"
That made the taller boy grin as he shrugged, tilting his head to the side in a condescending way, as if he were talking to any other common citizen rather than the future heir of the Piltover throne.
"Perhaps you're just a sore loser, don't you think?"
And with that, he earned a splash to the face.
"Hey! That's not fair!" The taller boy laughed as he walked over to the creek and reached over to splash some water at his friend in an attempt at vengeance.
The splashing went on until both had drenched, puddles forming on the stone beneath their feet as they tried their best to move around with uncomfortable clothes that clung to their skin.
Eventually they settled down on a rock overlooking the creek, the sun beaming down on them, drying them off before they would have to return home.
"Do you think we'll always be friends?" The smaller boy asked, breaking the steadily growing silence between the two of them.
The other boy seemed to think about his answer, his face scrunching up in quandary as he stared off into the distance.
It was obvious when he'd reached a conclusion because his eyes lit up and a small smile crept across his face as his gaze shifted over to meet Jayce's own.
"I think I'd like to keep you around, just for a little while longer."
It was a simple answer, perhaps to anyone else it might even come across as rude.
But to Jayce, it meant the world.
Even years down the line, Jayce held onto the assurance with the vice grip of his heart, breathing it in like air because it too felt like a necessity that he couldn't live without.
It still provided him comfort even when he and Viktor did eventually drift apart.
And it consoled him even now as he stood beside the Queen, his mother, and watched the armored man in front of him.
The man that was meant to be his personal knight.
The Machine Herald
Jayce watched as Viktor moved carefully, hand secure on the knob of his cane while the other was occupied with a stick.
His moves were not sudden, in fact they were almost predictable, but there was something precise about them and a sort of heat behind each move that even if you knew the attack was coming from miles away, you wouldn't be able to outsmart Viktor.
That's what Jayce had always admired about Viktor.
Though he was looked down upon by the other boys in the village for his disability, he never paid them any mind. He still went out to the clearing in the forest everyday, practicing parry upon parry until his limbs grew sore and begged him to take a break.
Viktor was always transparent about his end goal. He'd wanted to be a Knight. Jayce's personal knight to be specific. There were always mixed reactions whenever he'd tell someone of his ambitions. Sometimes it'd be looks of pity and disbelief, as if a wingless bird had just told them of their wish to fly. And other times it was a mocking laugh, like a snake spitting venom at its prey.
But Viktor would not be prey.
There was always a sort of fire in his eyes, a golden ember that ignited with each thrust of his makeshift sword.
That was what Jayce had always admired about him.
And that's how he'd remembered him.
At least until Viktor stopped showing up.
Jayce had sat on his perch, waiting for what felt like hours until the sky grew dark and his eyes grew heavy.
As he stood up and trudged along the trail he tried reasoning with himself
Maybe he was busy
Maybe he just didn't feel like coming today
Maybe he was finally tired of Jayce
With each new theory Jayce felt heat prickle in the back of his eyes and little droplets landing on the trail beneath his feet.
He knew he was being irrational, jumping to conclusions much too soon.
But something didn't feel right.
As much as Jayce would have loved to prove his own intuition wrong, Viktor never came back.
Jayce never saw him in the clearing as he continued to go back for days which eventually stretched into weeks which turned into a whole month before he decided there was no point in returning.
Viktor wasn't coming back.
It was unfair really.
It's not like there was anything The Herald had done to offend Jayce.
But once you've set your heart on something for so long, a silly childhood dream that you once believed was set in stone, it was almost impossible to come to the realization that his Knight in shining armor wouldn't be the boy he'd always hoped it would be.
So maybe he did hold a bit of a grudge against this Knight and avoided interacting with him as much as possible.
It didn't help with all the things he'd heard about The Machine Herald.
Stories of his ruthlessness, his agile skill with the blade. How efficient and harsh he was with opponents who stood in his way.
But it was hard to stay away from him all of the time, especially since he was his personal knight.
Everywhere Jayce went, whether that be down to the village for a quick visit or even out for his daily walks, there was always the looming presence of the Knight behind him.
He was just slightly taller than Jayce with steel plated armor covering from head to toe like a silver cocoon. On his face sat a metal mask, one carved out to fit a slim face which was one of the only hints as to what was hiding behind all the armor. The other was the brown wisps of hair that spilled out from behind the mask and curled upwards at the end.
An odd thought passed through Jayce's head about what it'd feel like to run his hands through it. How soft the strands would feel against his palm or the pads of his fingers.
But Jayce was quick to expel those thoughts from his head.
It could never happen
Jayce hardly had time to himself anymore.
Between being busy with his Princely duties, he always had The Herald right behind him.
Realistically Jayce knew it was his job but that didn't make it any less annoying.
In fact, today was the only day of peace Jayce had known since the Knight's arrival.
He looked around, double checking just to make sure he truly was on his own before making his way down the corridor and up the flight of stairs that led to the library.
As he opened the doors to the grand room, he looked over his shoulder one more time before running in, closing the doors behind him.
It wasn't that Jayce wasn't allowed in the library. It's actually where he spent most of his free time.
But the real secret is what was hiding in the library.
Jayce walked over to one of the shelves, crouching down till he spotted an old book, dark blue cover withered with time and pages yellowed by the love it'd received over the years.
He reached out, gently tugging the book back by the spine until a click rang out through the otherwise silent library.
The silence was disturbed by the sound of gears grinding together like muffled thunder on a stormy night.
On the other side of the room, one of the bookshelves pushed back and to the left, creating an entryway in which Jayce was quick to take.
As soon as he heard the telltale click of the faux bookshelf sliding back into place, he continued his journey, sliding his hand along the stone wall as he walked.
At the end of the hallway was a room, dimly lit by a few lanterns strung up on the walls.
The room wasn't too big, just a bit smaller than the library itself and upon quick glance, once could even mistake it as just an extension of the library.
But if you really looked, you might see that the crowds of parchment paper scattered along the desks were littered with scribbles and notes, all of different ideas that were written down quickly in fear that they would be forgotten if not immediately written down.
If one was looking even closer they might have been able to notice the blue gemstone, perched snugly on a stand on the table.
Of course, Jayce didn't plan on anyone seeing this.
The amount of trouble he could get in, not to mention the hysteria if word were to get out that Piltover's Golden Boy was meddling in the Arcane.
Magic was a taboo in Piltover, something that was scorned as being too dangerous and certainly not fit for a Prince.
But Jayce didn't see it that way.
He saw magic as a way to improve the lives of the people in Piltover, the lives it could save
He'd been trying to figure out how to harness the unstable magic for a while now, doing experiment after experiment and writing down any observations that seemed in any way relevant.
So far, he hadn't made much progress.
Which is why he came as often as he could, something that was rather difficult now that he had The Machine Herald but he didn't intend to waste the little time he had to himself so he set to work.
It couldn't have been that long since Jayce started his work for the day, not that he was keeping track of the time.
But it was always easy for him to get lost in his research and it wasn't uncommon for him to find himself falling asleep, slumped over his desk with drool spilling onto his notes.
This time though, it wasn't falling asleep on the job that has Jayce finally coming back to the real world.
It was the sound of the secret door pushing back and moving along its little track to reveal an entry.
Oh shit
Jayce was quick to shove the book he was currently reading under a pile of, hopefully, ineligible notes. He needed to cover any trace of what he was doing here before this trespasser, probably his Mother, came in.
He had just finished hiding the blue crystals in a desk drawer before he heard a voice behind him.
"Am I interrupting?" The voice, slightly deeper than Jayce's own and lilted with an accent that was all too familiar, said as its owner moved closer.
It's not him.
Why can't you be him?
"No no, not at all I was just-"
Jayce paused for a second, turning so his back was no longer facing the armored man. "How did you get down here?"
The Knight didn't say anything for a minute. He just stood there, stoic and silent. it was almost unsettling how unreadable he was behind all that armor.
After a beat of silence passed he gave his reply.
"One of the books looked out of place. I was simply fixing it and then the bookshelf slid open, I assumed you were in here."
B ut
The book always moves back to it's spot
Doesn't it?
At least Jayce had thought it did.
That's why he had never been caught.
Well not until now.
Apparently Jayce had been lost in thought long enough for The Machine Herald to start looking around, picking up some of the notes and looking through them as if he was in the slightest bit intrigued.
"You sign your notes?"
"What?"
"Your notes, they all bear the house Talis crest on them." To prove his point, the Knight showed the paper to Jayce.
Sure enough, the eye-catching T sat at the bottom of the page, corners pointing down in the image of a hammer.
When he looked back up at the Knight, it was still the same masked face but he could practically feel the smug grin underneath it.
At least he has some form of emotions
"A little egotistical don't you think?"
"I didn't ask for critique." Jayce objected as he snatched the paper from the knight's hand, picking the rest of the papers off of the desk so they were out of his reach.
The Knight only bowed his head in response, kneeling down at his addressed Jayce. "My apologies, your highness, I did not mean to offend. I just think that- well based on your notes…"
Jayce felt his face soften a little at the open display of hesitance. Something he had not seen from this Knight since the day he arrived.
"What about my notes?"
That was seemingly enough to spur the Knight on.
He stood up tall, once again towering Jayce as he looked down at him with his head tilted slightly to the side.
"I think that you're onto something."
That..wasn't what Jayce had expected him to say. Maybe mock him for his childish dream or threaten to alert his Mother but definitely not that.
Jayce let out a sigh or relief he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in as he leaned against the desk. "But no one thinks it can be done."
"When you're going to change the world, don't ask for permission."
A silence settled over the room before the Knight moved closer, extending his arm out towards Jayce and unfurling his fingers to reveal one of the blue crystals, nestled in his palm like it had back in the stand.
Jayce hesitated for a minute before reaching out his own hand to gently take the crystal as if it were a sacred treasure, and in a sense it was.
He looked up just as his hand hovered over the Knight's steel covered one, the soft blue glow from the crystal reflecting onto the metal armor and tinting it in its light.
Jayce imagined what his face would look like, drenched in the blue light making his eyes twinkle.
He imagined what it'd look like to see him smile, to see his face scrunch up in the lopsided grin it always had when they were younger.
It's not him
You know it's not him.
"I don't even know your name." Jayce said. The disguise for a silent prayer that maybe, by some odd chance, it would really be him. That he'd get to live out the dream he and Viktor had always talked about when they were younger.
Please be him
Another moment of silence passed before the Knight stiffened, dropping his arm back down to his side.
"It's Dolus."
Oh.