Invitation to the Pilty Party
UNDERCITY: THE LAST DROP: THIRD SHIFT: EVENING
“So, what’s this all about.” Vander took a seat at the table across from Rogers, bits of glitter shedding from his beard onto the table as they waited for Claggor to bring Avaly from the back. He had three cups of black coffee one of which he passed across to his bartender. Steve took it, and sipped carefully, knowing that the coffee was generally hotter than forgotten officer mess hall brew. “She showed up a couple hours ago looking for you, she said Dwarma pushed her to you to help her daughter.” He looked at his notes “Kavia. Something about medication that she needs.” He said, “Claggor suggested she rest, and he took her to the cot in the storeroom.” and looked at the tabletop. “Is that glitter?”
“Where’s the kid now?” Vander asked, ignoring the question, and taking a swig himself and scratched his beard, more glitter coming off on his fingers. He looked at the tiny glitter specks and sighed. It was the cost of having a brilliantly gifted child. Maybe she could invent something to make glitter dissolve, he mused. He swiped off the shiny bits off the table.
“With her brother, but she didn’t give a name.” Rogers said, checking his notes. “Sevika suggested she may be a shimmer addict, and I must agree with her. She has vein patterns that’s shown up in others we’ve seen.” Vander nodded and lit his pipe. Shimmer was a drug that becoming more prevalent in the Lanes, and according to Greyson, it’s even shown in southern Piltover, the so-called poor side of the city of progress. It wasn’t as prevalent as redcaps or sweet leaf, but it was gaining momentum. Movement in the back room brought his attention to Claggor leading the woman from the kitchen area. The teenager motioned for her to take a place at the table.
“Vander, this is Avaly.” Claggor introduced her as the woman took her seat. “I’ll be behind the bar.” Vander thanked his oldest and turned to the woman. “So, how can I help you.” He leaned back, taking a tug off his pipe, and blowing out a cloud. “Rogers tells me Dwarma sent you.”
Avaly nodded. “I came up to get pills for my kid and Sawbones didn’t have any more.” She said, scratching her arm. “My girl is sick and the Pilties are keeping all the drugs for themselves. Sawbones said she can’t get it from now on.” Avaly snatched up the coffee and took deep pulls from the ceramic mug, holding it with both hands as she drained it. Steve watched her closely, her behaviors reminding him of heroin addicts he’d seen in all night coffee shops in Brooklyn before the war, drinking coffee at all hours. She held onto the cup for dear life as Vander nodded, “I understand, I’d do anything for my children just as I sure you’ll do anything for yours. Mind if I ask what she needs them for?”
“She shakes, really bad if she don’t take them and she can’t stop.” The woman said. “Kavia can’t do nothing when the shakes hit her, but the pills keep still.” Avaly squirms in her chair. “I have to keep her at my brothers squat so I can do my work.”
Vander nodded. “What do you do?” He asked.
“Odd work, sometimes for the Vyx and chem testing.” She said, and the barkeep nodded. It made sense now. Chem testing had become a way to make money quickly in the sumps over the past year, with a lot of the desperate choosing to take cogs for allowing drug makers to inject them with whatever new strains they had concocted. Most didn’t last long doing it, but people could make decent money for whatever reason they would have, be that for their family or just to get more drugs.
“Can you write?” The Hound asked, and she shook her head slowly. He nodded, “Describe how to get to where you live to Rogers, and I’ll speak to Dwarma. Your little one is safe now, yeah?”
“She is with my brother and his family, between the water tower and Ol’ Creaky.” She spoke. “Small squat there.”
Vander nodded as Steve wrote it down. “I know where that is, we can find you.” And he stood up, “We will look into this, and we will have a solution. I’m going to give you something that might help your little one, it’s a sedative that I still have laying around from last year that might help her sleep.” He put his hand on top of hers “If I give it to you, she’ll get it yeah?”
Avaly nodded, and Vander motioned for Rogers to follow. They went to his room off the bar and Vander unlocked the cabinet, pulling out a bottle of medicine that Dwarma had given them for Vi and Powder after the incident. It was a sleeping draught, but it was made to keep the body still while they were sleeping so the person taking it wouldn’t open wounds. “In the morning, I’ll check in with Dwarma and see what she has to say about all this. We’ll need to contact someone topside that can answer some medical questions.”
“I may have an angle on that already.” Steve stated. “Dr. Kiramman owes me a favor after all, and I think they are pretty honest, regardless of class.” Vander nodded in agreement. Rogers had saved their child from a kidnapping attempt by the same people that had attacked his own children. Like it or not, his family and the Kirammans were now linked together for better or worse.
Vander smirked. “Gonna wear your suit?”
Rogers nodded. “Told you it would come in handy.”
Claggor stuck his head in. “She booked it!”
Vander and Steve turned towards the oldest boy, who was heading back towards the bar. They followed him onto the floor and sure enough, she was gone. “I turned by back on her to get her some more coffee and when I turned back around, I caught her running out the door.” He said, still holding the cast iron coffee pot. “I followed her to the door, but she was gone.” The boy shrugged, looking miserable. “I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, she wasn’t under lock and key and free to go whenever she wanted.” Vander stated, patting his oldest boy’s shoulder. “You did good, looking out for her.” Claggor nodded but was pretty sure that he was still kicking himself. “We're still going to look into it. In the morning, I’ll check in with Dwarma, and Rogers will get ready to meet up with his contact.”
“I’ll get the bar ready, if you want.” Claggor offered, Vander nodded. “Good. You and Vi get the bar set up while we’re out and about and go ahead and open…” he noticed the expression on Claggor's face, one that raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nuthin, Sounds good. Me and Vi will open the bar, and whip Mylo into being useful.” The young man nodded. “I’ll grab the keys to close up!” and rushed into the back. Vander watched him go and started putting things together. His expression changed when he mentioned Vi, and it wasn’t an expression that he liked to see on any of his kids faces. Claggor wasn’t happy with his older sister and was hiding something. It was something he’d address soon enough; he had a feeling.
Vi watched as the addict ran out of the doors of the Last Drop, followed by Claggor shouting a name. She had just arrived on the upper layers, crouching on a support beam overlooking her home, and now her brother was standing in the middle of the busy throughfare looking for whoever the woman was that went streaking out into the night. From her vantage point, she couldn’t hear anything he was saying, but watched him walk back inside the bar before anyone took serious notice of him. It didn’t look like she needed to chase the woman, as if it had been serious, she knew that Claggor would be on her in a heartbeat. She’d learn more from her brother when she made it back inside.
If he’d talk to her. His choice really, she thought. Claggor has been going on less and less jobs with her and Mylo unless it was a necessity of his presence for the job to succeed. He had chosen to help around the bar and try to free up Vander to lead the Lanes. That’s what Blondie was for, to free up Vander. Was he doing his job, yes. She had no complaints with Blondie, except he way too willing to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. Vi had at one point wanted to be like that but realized that most people weren’t worth the effort. Her family was important, and that was pretty much it. Everyone else could hang.
Who was her family, she thought as she watched the street below. How many of them were there, watching and laughing at the little pink haired girl that needed the big tough Enforcer lady to save her. Last year, she said the Lanes was her family, and now that circle had shifted to just those around her. Benzo and Ekko, they were family. Claggor and Mylo, yes, they were family of course. Vander was their dad. She would be there for them just like she knew they’d be there for her. Even though Claggor was annoyed with her for whatever reason, she’d look after him. Even Blondie had endeared himself enough to her that she would look after him if heeded her help. He was family now, like a favored uncle.
She would abandon every single one of them for Powder. Each one would burn to protect Powder.
She'd burn to protect Powder...
Everything she does is for her. All the cogs she makes from Silco are for Powder, and her education and her dreams. A lot of the money she got on the side jobs went towards texts from a used book seller on the promenade, and towards better materials for her tinkering. Her sister wasn’t stupid and knew enough not to ask about where she got them from, but knew she was getting them from her side job. The day would come when she would ask, and Vi had no plans as to how to answer, but she would probably tell her the truth at that point. She deserves it.
Thoughts for a different time and ascended towards the Drop.
Her feet hit the roof, the familiar feel of the loose paneled structure that leaked on the rare occasion that it rained. It was her favorite place to think, look over the lanes and decompress. It was home.
“You missed Hopper’s test.” Powders familiar voice filtered in with the fourth shift change noise, and Vi startled to face her little sister. She was sitting, knees up to her chin in the dark, but Vi could still see her blue eyes regarding her. How long she had been there was anyone’s guess, but she didn’t have to guess who she was waiting for.
“What are you still doing up, Pow?” Vi said, moving next to her sister and sitting down next to her. “Does Vander know you’re up here?”
“Nope, he’s a little upset with me since he was a casualty in Hopper’s test.” She shrugged, with a slight smirk. “So was Benzo.” Powder snorted. “I feel so bad for Ekko, Benzo didn’t take it as well as Vander did. Little man will be cleaning his plastron for days!”
Vi stifled a laugh. “Paint?”
“Glitter…” She said, another huff of a laugh “So much glitter...”
The sisters were caught up in an uproarious laugh, wheezing out occasional words like “glitter beard” inciting another round of hysterical laughing. They laughed for what felt like forever, finally ending in hiccups of giggles and coughing out a belly moan from muscles generally not used for that. Powder flopped her head on Vi’s shoulder and hugged her arm. “I miss you.”
“I know, I haven’t been around much lately.” Vi said, resting her head on her blue mop of hair. “I’ll make it up to you somehow.” By getting your name circulating around with the Slickjaws, the thought of the woman at the Glasc building mentioning Powder and her family.
I thought she was disposable…
“I know.” Powder whispered. “I’m worried about you that’s all, whenever you go out. I don’t know what you’re doing, who you’re doing it for.” She released her arm and draped her arms over her head. “I also know that I don’t need to know, since I’d jinx it.”
“You’re not a jinx.” Vi said, deflated from her sister’s self-admission. She would kick Mylo’s ass forever saying that to her. She hated it when her little sister was self-deprecated, and Powder has self-esteem issues on top of
“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not last year’s Powder. I’ll be thirteen in a couple weeks, and I know that I could easily trip up and say something to Mylo, or Claggor or even Steve by accident. I wouldn’t mean to, but I could.” She explained. “It would then get to Vander and he’d probably not take it well.”
“You thought this out.” Vi smirked, looking at her sister. It really hadn’t dawned on her that Powder was going to soon be an official teenager. Last year, on her twelfth birthday Powder still had the cast on her arm, and she was still tender from the gunshot wound. A lot of changes in a year.
“What else do I have to do while I’m sitting around waiting for you on a roof top.” Powder gave her side eye; in the most mock condescension she could muster. Vi gave her braid a yank and got rewarded with a yelp and an elbow nudge.
“Just be careful, ok?”
“Ok.” Vi said, nudging her back.
“Oh, by the way!” Powder sat up and fished around her side pouch and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I almost forgot. I got a letter from Caitlyn!” She said, unfolding the paper. Vi leaned back, waiting for her sister to read the latest missive from her pen pal. They’d met last year, after the Arcade attack and they went to Piltover to meet with the Sheriff in the witness room. Vi was surprised that Powder made such a connection with the pretty topside girl, as it was the first person her sister had made a connection with other then Blondie. Blondie, however, she wished for.
“She sent me more journal pages from some experts about trajectories, and I can really understand them now! I’m getting the good at this!” She beamed, showing the six or so pages that were currently trying to reroll themselves. Vi looked at them in her hand and could see the bell charts and equations that made her brain hurt. Oh, she could grasp the theories, and could understand the speed and the drop rate due to gravity. That made sense. It was when Powder started talking about the lands and grooves twist in the barrel and its relation to ranges and gas. Yup, just thinking about it made her sleepy. Powder had devoured the books that she had been able to get for her, which ranged from worn out technical manuals to academy textbooks from years past. Some of them didn’t have covers and were all marked up inside, but the information was still there. Each tome she read through, came another experiment that worked better than the last.
“She invited me to her house to shoot guns.” Powder mumbled, looking at a very interesting metal can on the other side of the roof.
“What was that?” Vi said, thinking she heard what she said, but it sounded crazy.
Powder cleared her throat. “Dearest Powder...” She smiled. “That’s me!” she grinned.
“Yeah, I know... Move it along...” Vi smirked.
“I hope this letter finds you well.” Powder continued. “The Rifle team is having a meeting next week and we are going to do some qualification practice, very casual of course and I would like to invite you and your sister to join us, since I’m certain Mr. Vander wouldn’t let you come alone...” she looked up from the letter. “I don’t know if that’s true...” Powder said, pursing her lips.
Vi beetled her brows. “No, it’s true.”
Powder nodded; it was. She turned back to the letter.
“My teammate Ezreal Lymere is our current handgun enthusiast, and I thought you might like shooting against a person who is an enjoyable competitor for you. Honestly, I think you can give him some pointers, he tends to drop shots with a rifle.” She looked up. “Umm…” and went back to the letter. “You do not have to compete of course, and you and your sister are welcome to simply enjoy your day with the group in any case.” She turned the page. “Please send me a Pnumo back and let us know if you can attend. I am very excited to see you again in person next week. Your Pilty Pen Pal...” Powder giggled, “She’s such a dork… Caitlyn.”
Vi nodded as Powder folded the letter back up and stuffed it back into the Pnumo tube. “What do you think?”
“I’ll write a letter back to her, and get some things straightened out, but the question is, do you want to go.” Like whom else is going to be there, why did you want a trencher there, and maybe this Caitlyn didn’t have an ulterior motive, but someone might, and they’d need an exit strategy. When they met, this girl seemed ok, if not a bit posh and Vi was taken aback on how open she was. She didn’t have the look of disdain which was usual in Topsiders. Powder had let her read each of the letters she had received except one. Powder was weird after that for a week and didn’t look Blondie in the eyes. Vi figured that her Pen pal had mentioned something about man, probably something embarrassing. Every other letter after that was like the others. Shooting, Problems with her peers and annoyance with her parents.
Powder nodded and looked back at the letter. “Are you going to yell at her?”
“You can’t yell at someone in a letter...” Vi said. She would try though.
“You know what I mean.” Powder looked her in the eye. “Are you going to be mean to her?”
“No, I won’t be mean to her, dammit.” Vi huffed. “I’ll let you read it when I’m done, so you don’t get all broody about it. I just want to make sure you are protected, ok. It’s like you’re going behind enemy lines, so we have to cover our asses.”
“So, you want to go then!” Powder grinned. “You said OUR asses.”
“Yeah, I’ll go to with you.” Vi said, putting an arm around her. “Someone has to keep you grounded before you start getting all infected by their Piltyness.” She chided.
Powder laughed, pretend holding a cup with a pinky out and mimed drinking tea. “SoooOOoo Pilty!”
Piltover: Bluewind Court: Near the Kiramman Estate: Midday
Captain Steve Rogers walked along the sidewalk in the Bluewind Court area of the northside of Piltover, adjusting the neck of his seldom worn shirt, pulling the tie that ringed the collar slightly tighter as he approached the Kiramman Estate. He had been here a year ago and wasn’t surprised that there was no change in the sprawling environment. The grounds were still meticulously maintained, and the house itself was immaculate from the outside. Grounds keepers were clipping bushes, trees and topiary, while masons and cleaners upkeep the building. He could also see some of the grounds keepers with specific bulges under their overalls and jackets. Armed security was mixed in with the ground keepers, and he would have to guess the household staff had some armed people mixed in. It made sense, especially with the trust in the Enforcers had been tested by the attempted kidnapping of a high-ranking member of the Nobel house...
Steve walked to the main pedestrian gate of the estate and was unsurprised that it was manned by a green uniformed guard in a small booth, armed with the usual revolver that he had gotten used to seeing in Piltover law enforcement. The guard looked up, regarded him a moment before standing up and stepping outside of the hut. The small guard shack was new.
“Can I help you friend?” The guard stated with his hand on his pistol. Steve figured the events from last year was still a cause for alarm. He was glad he decided to purchase a suit to better blend into Piltover a couple of months ago. He had shaved his beard, something he had planned in any case to give himself a cleaner appearance. There was no denying that the Undercity citizens had a distinct look about them which he embraced in his day to day at the Last Drop, but occasionally you needed to dress up. It was why you always kept one nice suit in your closet. In case of funerals, going to the bank for a loan and taking out your best girl. He would have had one, had he remained on Earth. Bucky had one that fit him like a glove, while most of his own suits fit him like someone else's glove.
“I’m here to see Dr. Kiramman.” Steve said to the guard “I don’t know if he’d be expecting me, the Hospital said they would send a Pnumo. Captain Steve Rogers.”
The guard nodded and turned back to the small booth, jotted down his name on a card and sent a secured Pnumo-tube, presumably to the security office inside the building. it wasn’t long before the entrance door cracked open, and the man named Carson if Steve remembered correctly. The man’s white bushy mustache triggering his memory of him. The guard unlocked the pedestrian gate and moved aside for Steve’s entry.
“Good morning, Captain Rogers. The Undercity is treating you well I see.” Carson said, giving him a head nod. Steve smiled and nodded back. “Pleasure to see you again as well Carson. I’m glad you received the message from the hospital.” He said as the butler motioned him to follow.
“Indeed, we received it shortly ago. Dr. Kiramman and Miss Kiramman are in residence at the moment, Lady Kiramman is in chambers today.” Carson stated as they passed the threshold into the estate.
The décor was as Steve remembered from the last time he was here, and just as empty in the sitting room, the family portrait dominating the facing wall. Carson continued to walk through the sitting room to a hallway with the unmistakable scent of cooked meat. The butler showed him into a kitchen space where Dr. Tobias Kiramman was currently stirring a small pot of what looked like soup. A small griddle had some bread and strips of meat and egg frying, popping happily as he turned the meat strips over. Tobias looked up from his task and gave him a pleasant smile.
“Captain Rogers, how nice to see you again.” He said, checking the toast on the bread. “I was surprised to hear you wanted to speak with me. Hopefully nothing serious?”
“Actually, I need some information, but I apparently came at a bad time.” He motioned to the food being prepared. “I can come back later if you’d like.”
Tobias laughed. “Hardly, just some lunch for Caitlyn and myself. I had a free afternoon, so I decided to spend it with Caitlyn. She will be quite pleased to see you no doubt.” He checked the bread again and moved them onto a plate. “She has been writing to your young friends in the Lanes, correct?”
“That’s my understanding.” Steve said and put his hands on the counter edge. “A young woman approached us about her little girl who takes medication for tremors.” He said, unbuttoning his jacket and shoving his hands in his pockets. “Kid sounds pretty young, maybe around five or six. Avaly says the kid shakes so bad she can’t do anything else.”
Tobias nods. “Sounds like she needs a bellarda alkaloid treatment, she should be able to get those pills in the Lanes.” He said, as he assembled the sandwiches. “There are also certain foods she can ingest that will give her some relief.”
“According to Dr. Dwarma, the pills are no longer available at her clinic. Vander went and met with her this morning and confirmed what she told us. Apparently, a lot of medication has been suspended from distribution to the Undercity over the past few weeks.” Steve stated. “I was hoping you could shed some light on why that might happen.”
“Honestly, I couldn’t say.” Tobias said, rubbing his bearded chin. “Did you bring a list of the medication that are no longer available to the Lanes?” to which Steve fished his notepad out of his pocket and handed it over to him. The physician looked over the medications with a look of surprise. “None of these are considered dangerous or could be used recreationally.” He said and called for Carson. The Butler arrived within moments. Tobias handed him the notebook and asked him to copy the page for him.
“Maybe it’s not for a medical reason.” Steve offered. “You wouldn’t happen to know what company manufactures the medication? Maybe they are holding it back for political reasons.”
“I would certainly hope not, but I can look into it. I find it most distasteful if that is the case.” Tobias said, stirring the soup. “House Arvino had some ties in pharmaceuticals if I remember correctly, perhaps that’s a place to look.” Tobias absentmindedly tapped his chin with the spatula, adding some of the grease to his salt and pepper beard. “There is and Undercity company that has been dabbling into pharmaceuticals also.” he realized what he was doing and put the spatula down and grabbed a towel. He snaped his fingers. “Glasc Industries. It has considerable backing and has begun some business in Piltover.” Steve nodded and wrote it down in his notebook. He would check them out as well. Tobias sighed. “I have a small supply of that pills here for one of the household staff who has regrettably passed. It won’t be more than two weeks of medication but could give the child some relief until this is resolved.”
“Captain Rogers!” A young voice came from behind him as Caitlyn entered the kitchen followed by a very serious looking young man. Caitlyn had a growth spurt apparently Steve thought, as she was easily two inches taller than last year. “I... “She stumbled and stopped herself before she went too far forward. “I didn’t know you were coming...” looked back at the young man, who just raised an eyebrow. “Today?”
“It’s nice seeing you again, Caitlyn.” Steve said, giving her a smile. She was dressed in what he assumed were athletic attire, which consisted of a sweatshirt with Piltover Academy emblazoned across the chest and knee length shorts and trainers. The man was in what looked like wool uniform trousers and boots, tucked into the tops and held up with suspenders. His shirt was a green long sleeve undershirt not far off from his own. His most striking feature was the pompadour hair style which lent to a natural widow's peak in front...
“Captain Rogers, this is Julian Argos, a member of our security team assigned to Caitlyn. I believe you are teaching my daughter self-defense?” Tobia’s said, jovially ladling soup into bowls. He added a third one for Steve and sliced one of the sandwiches in two.
“Yes sir, That I am.” the younger man stated with a nod. “I’ll leave you to your lunch. Find me when your able miss and we can continue.” and with that the man exited the kitchen leaving the three of them alone. Caitlyn took a seat, making side eyes at Steve while accepting the bowl and sandwich made by her father. Tobias then passed the half sandwich and bowl to him, which he smiled and took graciously. “Please, tuck in.” Tobias said, sitting down at the table with his own and attacking the sandwich. Steve began eating his own and appreciated the good doctor for his cooking skills. It was a good sandwich.
“How are things for you in the Undercity, Captain. Last I heard you were adopted into a family unit.” he asked. “The same family that Caitlyn sends letters to the youngest?” Caitlyn’s eyes widened as her father spoke, glancing back to Steve. The soldier’s brows furrowed as he noticed her reaction. “Yes, Powder. She’s the tinkerer in the family. She and a local apprentice work together often on projects.” he said, spooning some soup into his mouth. “The older kids help with the bar and other jobs around the Lanes. I took a bartending position, and occasional bouncer when needed.”
“Sounds rather tame after soldering.” Tobias stated, frowning at the soup and added some spices that were on the table.
“I like tame, and I was a bartender during college to help out my mother so it's nothing I haven't done before.” Steve said with a smile. A smile that asked not to pry. Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. “What did you study?”
“Art.” he said, finishing the sandwich. “Illustration and Commercial.”
The lunch concluded after a while, with more small talk and pleasantries until Steve thanks her father and left the estate. Rather than find Julian, Caitlyn went up to her room and locked the door behind her and closed her curtains. Moving to her bookcase, she pulled out one of the large but now outdated map books she kept for reference and opened it to the center, exposing a letter. She opened it and perused the contents...
Dearest Peggy...
I know it’s silly to keep writing these letters to you, since I know you will never receive them, but it makes me feel connected to you while I’m writing them. I burn them afterwards, and maybe its symbolic that it’s a way to deliver the letter to you. A cosmic mail services?
Well, it’s been a little over three months since Powder and Ekko wished me here, and it doesn’t look like I’m going to find my way home. I mentioned the kids before, I’m sure. Both are little geniuses, and even took my service pistol apart and made schematics. Bet ol’ Howard Stark didn’t do that when he was 12, they’d definitely give him a run for his money. Ekko suggested that I talk to some Yordle professor named Heimerdinger, that he might give me an idea on what to do. By the way, A Yordle is kinda like a Munchkin from the Wizard of Oz, except furrier. I’m going to try next week. Just to see.
Runeterra is nice, and I’m falling into a routine now at the bar, and honestly, I could see myself staying here. Luckily, I worked as a bartender during art school so working at the Last Drop wasn’t a real stretch. I don’t have anything holding me to our own world, since the people I was closest to are dead and gone. Th War is over for me, and the people here might need “Captain America” someday. The only reason I’d return would be for you.
I don’t even know if the War is over, or if it’s still going on. HYDRA isn't just going to go away I feel, even after the Nazi’s are beaten but I know you will be in the thick of it. So be careful, and don’t isolate yourself from the Howlers. Happy and Dum Dum will back anything you do, so keep them in mind as your second in command. Lead them well, even if they tell you a woman can’t lead troops. Prove them wrong as you’ve always proved them wrong. Prove that Agent Peggy Carter is twice the soldier.
Ill close this letter off for now, I'll write next month
Love,
Steve
Caitlyn folded the letter back up and placed it between the maps of Noxus and Shurima, closing the tome and hugging the oversized map book to her chest. She had received the letter some time ago in one of Powder’s letters, tacked onto the back of a drawing she had done regarding a target rotator or something like that. It has surprised her, and figured it was accidental. Caitlyn did tell Powder of course and promised to find a time to pass it back to her. She didn't want to send it by Pnumo, since it could be absconded with, and promises it would be safe. Then she read it and at first thought it was a silly, very creative joke. She wasn’t sure why she worried about it, but she found it fascinating.
Then Captain Rogers said he worked through college as a bartender.
He wasn’t from Demacia, or The Undercity…
Or Runeterra…
He was from another planet, another world called Earth. A place where women weren’t soldiers or led troops. Where there was a species called a Munchkin similar to a Yordle and Powder and her friend Ekko WISHED him here. He sounded lonely, writing ghost letters to a woman named Peggy Carter whom Caitlyn figured was his girlfriend or wife. It sounds like he was alone on his world, where all his people had passed on, or killed in war other than her.
He referred to himself as Captain America. It had to be a code name, since he’d introduced himself as Rogers, not America and he wrote the name in quotes. Was it this Captain America that beats four enforcers and a mage born without breaking a sweat? There are stories of highly advanced people in Freljord who could do amazing feats, as well as Noxus, Demancia and Ionia. Could Captain Rogers stand up to those people, would he be their Champion? A champion for all of Piltover, from Bluewind Court to the Undercity?
Caitlyn flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the top of her four poster. What should I do with this information. Tell the sheriff? Her parents?
She’d speak to Powder about it and give her the letter back to her.
THE SUMP: MIDDAY
Avaly walked through the wall of the Grey, finally back in the Sumps after the luxuriation of the Entresol, the toxic air keeping her grounded, keeping her honest. This was the truth, her truth. The Hound said he would get the medicine for Kavia, and the Hound never lied. Roman would look over her kid, and Roma was a good brother so he would take Kavia when she wasn’t around to do it. She turned down another street, near a line of small businesses and food carts, which would have been parts of Old Piltover before the collapse. The pitted metal and corroded brass were reinforced by pounded wood and steel so it wouldn’t become more street rubble to be climbed over. She fished into a pocket of her smock and pulled out a bronze washer and chose a Rodent Roaster from the food cart and pulled the stringy meat from the stick and shoved it into her mouth. She squatted under a graffiti of the Sisters, the Pink and her mighty Shield and the Blue with her Great Cudgel in the shadow of the Hound. Janna’s Blessing!
The ones that would save them all, that would raise the sumps back to the sun. The day would come when Kavia would run in that sun, live in the air that didn’t catch on fire. Avaly looked to either side of her and there were others squatting here with her, but they weren’t interested in her. Some rocked back and forth, while some moaned and some just sat there.
The meat wasn’t her truth though as it sat in her empty stomach turning it over, churning like the runoff, her truth was the purple haze and energy from shimmer. It was getting to be time to get it again. The question was from where. The Eye had shimmer, and his Doctor would pay good washers and even cogs for a decent dose, to test what it did. The last test was a good haze, but didn’t give her the energy she wanted. She just sat there, watching and listening to everything. They thought she was asleep, but she was a fooler. The Eye and the Doctor talking with the Magicians that wanted shimmer, and lots of it. They talked like shimmer was good for Chem-Tech stuff, made it stronger. Better...
She lost interest after that, as her own mind became more interesting.
Avaly looked over to the man sitting next to her, just staring into the void. He had been there when she sat down, and he hadn’t moved a muscle. His veins had gone black and his eyes were dull. She watched the others for a few moments before she scuttled over to him, and gave him a shove. The man flopped onto his side, his head smashing into the ground. Avaly decided that he wasn’t getting back up, and fished thought his pockets and Janna blessed her with a small sack of washers. She shoved it into her own pocket and felt around body and found nothing else of interest and stood up, looking at the others she shared the space with. Two of them took notice of her putting something in her pocket, but before they could stand, she was out of the alley and down the street.
“You were in the Entresol, weren’t you.” A voice came from behind her. Avaly whirled around, eyes wide and waiting for the fist she assumed would follow. It didn’t come. A woman stood there, her yellow eyes shown beneath the dark hood and robe, like the ones she’d seen coming up from the Dredge when she was in a Redcap fog at a squat near the prison mines entrance on the wide street. The Robes didn’t know she saw but she did. Avaly looked the woman up and down and shrugged. Robed ones would come to the Sumps and practice their spells on the Trenchers. Dangerous magic on disposable people.
“You saw the Hound.” The woman said, walking around her which caused Avaly to turn to keep her in her line of sight. “Doesn’t concern you...”
The robed woman held up three vials of Shimmer...
“Yes, I saw Vander the Hound.” Avaly said, her eyes fixed on the vials. They were in the good vials too, the ones that came from the Eye. “He’s looking to help my kid.”
The woman nodded under her hood, rolling the three vials in her small dark-skinned hand. “He will stop her shaking…” Avaly said, licking her dry lips.
“Did you see the Blond man, the Soldier?” The woman asked, the three vials suddenly levitating above her palm, rotating rapidly as a chill went down Avaly’s spine. What if this woman threw the vials into the wall, then she’d have to lick them off the ground. Her tongue would be cut from the glass. A whole mess. The woman needed to be careful with her magic, she might spill some.
“He was there, with the Hound talking with me.” She said. “He was writing things down like a Pilty.”
The woman snatched one of the vials from the levitating trio and put the other two away. “This is yours, the other two if you see the Blond man comes down here, you contact me.”
“How, Shout your name?” Avaly scoffed. The woman laughed and motioned for her to open her palm. The addict did so, and the woman pressed a paper into her hand, followed by the Vial of Shimmer. A glyph was emblazoned onto the thick paper, which of course she had no idea what it said, but stared at it for a few seconds before the woman spoke again. Avaly was far more interested in the Shimmer.
“Put the parchment to your lips, and say the name Zora Reez with a lot of breath, do you understand?” Avaly nodded.
“Say my name?” The woman said.
“I don’t know your name...”
“Zora Reez...” the woman said. “Say it.”
“Zora Reez?” Avaly said, raising an eyebrow.
“Again...”
“Zora Reez.” She said, with more conviction. “Zora Reez Zora Reez Zora Reez OK!”
“Good.” Zora said, nodding. “Do not forget, and use the glyph when you see Steve Rogers… The Blond man...” and waved her away. Avaly scurried away, down the closest alleyway as Zora turned and walked back towards the Dredge, once out of sight willed herself to portal away, back to the safety of the sanctum...