"So you copied the gemstone and gave it to Silco."
Caitlyn paced back and forth through the room, towel-drying her soaked hair.
"Not everyone is as decent as you, Caitlyn." Caleb spread his hands helplessly and shook the rainwater from his damp bangs. "Do you really think everyone in the Undercity is as reasonable as Vi? Or that everyone from topside is as considerate as you?"
Caitlyn fell silent. Vi's final words came back to her again.
"The Undercity and topside are like oil and water. They were never meant to mix."
"We're the same way."
After a long silence, Caitlyn finally asked, "What are you planning to do now?"
"We wait." Caleb sank into thought and spoke only those two words.
"Wait? Are you kidding?" Caitlyn was clearly furious. "Zaun could attack topside at any moment. What good does waiting do?"
"It'll bring a result." Caleb didn't explain any further. He just turned and left.
…
Destiny.
That was Twisted Fate's ultimate, but it was also an unbreakable concept.
A lot of things were decided from the very beginning. That was the feeling Caleb had come away with after everything he'd been through.
He could make small changes in secret, save the enforcers' lives, leave a gemstone with the Firelights—
But the feeling still lingered.
Every "hero" he had come into contact with would, in the end, still arrive at their destined place.
For example, no matter how much time he had spent with Jinx or Vi, he still hadn't been able to change either of them.
An invisible hand kept pushing everyone forward. Caleb had changed some things, but in another sense, he hadn't changed anything at all.
And now, he had reached a crossroads in his own life.
He could give up on the system's mission and let the twin cities truly go to war.
Even then, with his basic understanding of Hextech, living a life of wealth and comfort under House Kiramman until old age wouldn't be a problem.
As long as he stayed within the limits of what an ordinary person could handle, one Hextech creation at his side would be enough for him to live an easy, carefree life.
But if he wanted to stop the war between the two cities, then he would have to step into danger himself.
His physical abilities and combat skills had only been enhanced to Level 1. He still wasn't anywhere close to Vi fighting barehanded.
And there was no way he could build Hextech equipment in a short time.
Caleb stared blankly at the ceiling.
It was a painful decision.
No matter which path he chose, part of his original intentions would end up betrayed.
The story he knew so well was about to end.
What came next would be the unknown.
A very dangerous unknown.
There were far more champions in Zaun and Piltover than the handful he had seen in the show.
So if he gave up safety and luxury, what waited for him would be danger.
But if war broke out, the deaths that followed weren't something Caleb wanted to see either.
Knock, knock.
Two soft raps came at the door.
"Come in." The interruption made Caleb's body tense for an instant before he slipped back into his usual calm.
"Brother Caleb, I kind of want a bedtime story. Could I trouble you?"
It was little Ren. She was holding a copy of The Legendary Adventures of Teemo and smiling up at him.
"Of course." Caleb took her by the hand and walked her toward the guest room where she was staying.
"Is Caitlyn kind of in a bad mood?"
Ren tipped up her childish little face and asked the question with a trace of worry.
"She ran into some trouble with enforcer business," Caleb answered with a smile. "But we should trust your dad and your sister. They'll figure it out, right?"
"Right!" Ren raised her picture book high, her little face turning slightly red.
Under the orange lamplight, she poked her head out from beneath the covers, full of anticipation.
Caleb sat beside her, his voice low and gentle as he told one Swift Scout story after another.
…
Jayce stared at the boy in front of him.
He was probably around the age Jayce had been when he got stranded in the snow years ago.
Back then, Jayce had a dream too—to use the hammercraft passed down through his family to help people and do some good in the world.
He had done it.
The Mercury Hammer, powered by a Hextech gemstone, was his proudest creation.
Vi had convinced him to join her in destroying Silco's Shimmer factory.
Even with barely any real combat experience, he had still been able to swing his hammer and wade into battle against the Shimmer-enhanced thugs with blades strapped to their arms.
The enforcers' rifles couldn't reliably take aim at them, but his hammer could overpower them with ease.
And since it could also transform into the Mercury Cannon, Jayce could hurt them at any range.
As support, Vi had put on the Atlas Gauntlets, and the two of them had almost taken care of all the Shimmer thugs by themselves.
The chem-workers in the factory had been subdued, and the Shimmer-enhanced guards responsible for driving back intruders had been slaughtered almost to the last one.
But in the middle of venting his violence, Jayce had killed a boy by mistake.
The boy struggled, as if he still wanted to stand back up. After coughing up two mouthfuls of blood, the light slowly faded from his eyes.
Jayce knew it.
In the middle of battle, he had lost control.
The horrific sight of bodies all over the floor lay right in front of him.
Jayce covered his mouth, but he still vomited up a little bitter fluid.
Then he closed his eyes and let out a long, heavy breath.
When he looked up again, the civilians under enforcer control were all trapped in a state of extreme fear.
There were a lot of children among them.
More than a few. A significant number, really.
Jayce crouched down and gently closed the dead boy's eyes.
"You didn't have a choice," Vi said as she came up behind him, trying to comfort him. "He... he knew he was hurting people too."
But another voice filled Jayce's mind instead.
It sounded weak, but there was an unshakable conviction behind it.
"As long as you're alive, you have a choice."
Viktor had said that.
And Viktor was the one who was dying.
"This ends here." Jayce sounded as if all the strength had been drained out of him. None of the fierce power he'd shown in battle remained.
Vi shook her head.
"We haven't even gotten close to Silco yet."
"He's still out there, walking free."
"Don't you get it?" Jayce glared at the stubborn woman in front of him.
When she had been persuading him, when she had been supporting him from behind, she had seemed almost endearing.
Now, she felt unbearable.
"The next time a parent finds out their kid isn't coming home…"
"I won't even know how to face them."
Jayce looked devastated. He knew he had made a terrible mistake this time.
"So we just leave this kid here?"
"You've been living with crime all along!" Vi shot back, clenching her fists. "Because you refuse to see reality. All you can see is this one kid!"
"In his hometown, thousands of kids have died. Because of Silco. And because of hypocrites like you."
The more Vi spoke, the more worked up she became. Jayce only shook his head and looked at her with a deep frown.
"The operation is over," he said firmly.
"I'm not stopping." Vi refused to give an inch.
"Take off the gauntlets." Jayce's hand closed around the haft of his hammer once more.
Vi's answer was simple. As she tightened her fists, the gauntlets vented a burst of steam.
"You'll have to beat me first."
The Mercury Hammer crackled with electricity again as Jayce fell back into a fighting stance.
"I'm not letting you walk away with those gauntlets."
"Then I guess you'll have to kill another gutter rat."
Vi raised both fists in front of her.
Not far away, the enforcers watched all of this in a panic.
That was one of their city's councilors.
In the end, Jayce extinguished the lightning on his hammer and left without another word.
"You can't do this alone," he threw back over his shoulder, never once turning his head.
Vi stared at his back and smashed one of the huge glass containers storing Shimmer with a single punch.