Caleb and Vi sat in silence in the room.
They had caught bits and pieces of the argument downstairs, but it didn't mean much to them.
"I'm heading out for a bit." Rain was drizzling outside, but Caleb still pulled up his hood and prepared to climb out the window.
"Wait." After hesitating several times, Vi finally stopped him.
"Can you help me... wake her up?"
Looking at the man in front of her, the one who always seemed to know everything, Vi felt the faintest spark of hope rise in her chest.
If it was him, maybe he really could bring Powder back.
The little sister she used to have. The one who had been obedient and sweet.
Caleb was quiet for a moment before he answered, "No. But I can arrange a chance for the two of you to meet."
"When that happens, you can really talk."
Then Caleb disappeared into the curtain of rain.
Vi lay back on Caitlyn's soft bed, feeling strangely hollow.
She understood what Caleb meant.
She was afraid of Jinx. Afraid of that madwoman.
Just like everyone else in Piltover and Zaun.
But she was Jinx's sister, and she had been the one to leave her behind first.
Powder had cried until she could barely breathe in the middle of that fire, almost drowning in grief.
And when Vi had seen Jinx earlier, the moment Jinx saw her, she had been crying then too.
Jinx had nearly killed her twice now. Vi could still hear the bullets screaming past her.
So Vi could only keep telling herself that wasn't really her sister, that Powder was still sleeping somewhere deep inside Jinx's mind, waiting for her to wake her up.
That was why she had asked Caleb for help.
Too many impossible things had happened around him. No one knew where he came from, yet he moved through both Zaun and Piltover as if he belonged in each.
Zaunite thugs, Piltover Enforcers, he could bluff them all into confusion.
And when it came to her and Powder, he seemed to know everything.
Her own head was a complete mess right now. She couldn't think of any good solution.
The only thing she could do was crush Silco's criminal empire.
Then deal with Powder, slowly, after that.
Caleb walked down the street, breathing in air that actually smelled sweet.
Piltover really was different from the Undercity. Even with so much machinery and industry, it still managed to keep the environment clean.
That was only possible because they dumped all the pollution into the fissures.
Zaun wasn't lacking in resources, but under all that contamination, more and more people were being eaten away by toxic air and dying young.
Viktor, for one.
…
The biggest problem now was that Jinx and Vi had thrown his plans into chaos.
Mel's mother was pushing Mel and Jayce, because she had her eyes on the Hextech weapons that would soon be built.
Vi was never supposed to come to the topside. Now that she had, she would only disrupt his plans even further.
The story he intended to tell the Council, for one, would definitely have to change.
It was almost as if invisible gears of fate were turning, nudging Vi toward the role of a Piltover Enforcer.
And whether she was Jinx or Powder, her attitude toward Piltovans had always been the same.
Hatred.
She didn't understand an Enforcer like Caitlyn, and she could never forget the hatred born from her parents' deaths.
At the end of the day, the ideas Vi had planted in her long ago had already taken root and grown under all the years of Silco feeding her his defiance toward the topside.
To destroy that way of thinking, they would have to be prepared to destroy Jinx's entire identity along with it.
But right now, Caleb had something more important to do.
"I'm an operative for House Medarda. Tell me where Sheriff Marcus lives."
He pulled the same trick again on an Enforcer wearing a cap.
"Yes, sir!" The man looked nervous as hell, his voice trembling as he gave Caleb the exact address.
House Medarda was different from the other Council families in Piltover.
Clan Ferros and House Talis, for example, were focused mainly on technology and innovation.
The Enforcers protected their businesses and made sure family interests kept running smoothly.
But House Medarda had its roots in Noxus, a land steeped in bloodshed and raw power.
Because of that, nobody dared interfere in Medarda business.
No amount of profit was worth losing your head over.
Noxians carried an air of violence about them, and more importantly, they had far too many ways to kill a person.
No one wanted to wake up one day and find their life suddenly over. That, more than anything else, was why House Medarda carried so much weight.
And Caleb's current appearance only made him more convincing, streaked with blood and grime. Who knew what he had been up to, or whether he had anything to do with the explosion on the bridge last night?
In Noxus, blood and cruelty were practically virtues.
That was a place where executioners used flying axes to bring down fleeing criminals, and they were infamous for it.
So even the Enforcers didn't dare show the slightest disrespect to a man like the one standing in front of them.
"Hah…" Caleb changed into a black-and-white outfit and tossed his bloodstained clothes into a trash bin by the side of the road.
Then he opened a finely crafted brass umbrella and started walking toward Marcus's house.
He had already put away the Medarda crest. After clearing his throat twice, he knocked lightly on the door.
"Who are you looking for?" a clear little voice asked from below.
A cute little girl was standing there, looking up at him timidly.
Her father was often away from home, and sometimes that meant she had to answer the door herself.
"You must be Marcus's daughter, Ren." Caleb bent down and gently patted the child on the head.
"That's me. What do you need, mister?" the little girl asked politely, even though she was still nervous.
"Sheriff Marcus had to leave on a mission. He'll be gone for a while."
Caleb did his best to put on a friendly smile.
Ever since arriving in this world, he had learned one thing: whenever he negotiated with people, he could never let himself look weak.
So he had forced himself, over and over, to face all kinds of different people.
At this point, he had almost forgotten how to smile properly.
"He left in a hurry, so he asked me to come take care of little Ren."
"My name's Caleb."
He crouched down so he was at eye level with the girl, though the curve of his mouth still looked a little strained.
"Oh, I see. Come in, then!"
Ren happily opened the door and let him inside.
Marcus's house wasn't luxurious. Compared to Caitlyn's room, it was nowhere close.
Little Ren cheerfully went back to her room and kept building her little tower out of wooden blocks.
"Have you eaten yet, Ren?" Caleb poked his head in through the doorway and asked.
"Not yet. I had some crackers we had at home for breakfast, but I haven't had lunch."
The sun was already high overhead. By the time Caleb arrived, it was noon.
"Let's see... flour, salt... and some lobster, I guess."
Looking at the ingredients in front of him, Caleb started to worry.
Flour and salt were manageable. The giant blue lobster and all the strange seasonings, though, were completely beyond him.
After fumbling around for quite a while, he finally managed to cook some noodles.
He had to taste every unfamiliar seasoning one by one before he could put together the broth.
"Ta-da! Lobster noodles." Caleb carried the steaming dish over and set it on the table.
Sitting in her chair, little Ren lit up with excitement and started waving her fork and spoon.
"Caleb, it smells so good! It has to be delicious!"
"Thank you! Aren't you eating with me?"
Caleb untied the apron, straightened his clothes, and smiled.
"I still have a few things I need to take care of. You eat first, okay?"
He pushed open the door to Ren's room. Two men were already sitting there in complete silence.
The second the door shut behind him, the gentleness in Caleb's eyes vanished and turned cold.
"M-Mr. Caleb…" said the black-haired man, raising his mechanical right arm as if he still wanted to explain himself.
"You think I can't see through Silco's little scheme?" Caleb sneered. "He's afraid Marcus might turn on him, so he sent you here to grab the man by his weak spot. Isn't that right?"
"We're just following orders," said the blond man with the crooked eyes, still trying to say something.
Caleb didn't even look at him. He barked out a single word.
"Get out."