"More! I want that same feeling again! MORE!"~ Fiora, The Grand Duelist
Hey! Drop a couple comments! Let me know if you guys want to see something more. And I apologize for the chapter delays. I can give you an excuse but the truth is....
Me and my friends are currently in a race to finish all 3 Arkham games back to back. I'm halfway through City right now and have found the time to finish a chapter so that this gets uploaded.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"They are followers of the Chembarons." Sevika explained as the group finished talking about their little situation.
Caitlin raised her head, "Silco's men."
"No." Sevika denied. "Not all Chembarons were under Silco. Only the majority. A lot of them are gone now but a couple survived. The ones they faced were part of that group but there are still other Chembarons in the shadows of Zaun, the ones who did not answer to Silco."
Vi shook her head, "All of them answered to Silco."
Sevika sighed, "No. The only reason those few listened to Silco was because of the reputation he gained in the mining days and then after that battle. They feared him... but not all of them."
"And who among the still alive Chembarons are behind the attack on my children?" Gregori asked.
"Chross and Margot." Jinx answered.
"Chross runs the information guild. Controls everything related to information in these parts. His men are everywhere." Sevika explained, "Margot.... she runs the more.... adult establishments."
"Ya know?" Jinx waved her arms, "Sex."
Gregori's children looked at each other in alarm, while Sydell just sighed.
"Wow didn't know you raised a buncha prudes." Jinx exclaimed at their reactions. "Didn't teach them about sex?"
"He did!" Briar nodded sagely, "For having children in the future..... sex is important."
Jinx looked at her dumbfounded. She turned to Gregori, "Is she... ya know..." She twirled her finger around, near her head.
"I'm not crazy." Briar wagged a finger, "I'm one of the smartest in the group. Daddy said it himself."
"You did?" Daisy spun toward him.
Gregori looked between the two and then nodded, "She did learn most of the runes and is ahead of most of you in her studies."
"That's all that takes to be considered smart now?" Daani asked.
Gregori shook his head, "No. But it lays the foundation that one needs to be considered smart. And currently, she is ahead."
"So what's your deal?" Jinx squinted at Briar.
Vi snorted, "You are the last person to be asking that."
"Shush Violet. The adults are talking." Jinx raised a finger to her lips.
Daisy looked at Vi, "Your name is Violet?"
"No its not!" She snapped in response.
Daisy looked sad, "Oh... I thought you were named after a flower as well." She frowned, "What does Vi stand for anyway?"
"Violence." Vi replied without a second thought.
"Your mother named you Violence?" Annie asked confusedly.
"No!" Vi responded, "I gave myself the name."
"Why?" Daisy asked.
"Didn't like my name." She answered.
Daisy leaned closer, "What's wrong with your name?"
"Violet is a weak name." She answered, "I am not a Violet."
Crossing her arms together, Daisy replied, "Daisy is a strong name and I am strong and I don't think Violet is a weak name."
"Whatever." Vi gave up on trying to explain.
Daisy not wanting to stop pulled out her sword, instantly reducing the temperature in the room, and waved it around releasing flecks of ice.
"What kind of sword is that?" Caitlin asked.
"True Ice!" Daisy said as she gave the sword a quick swing.
Gregori raised his hand and Daisy felt her sword go back into its sheath. "Don't wave it around recklessly. You know how dangerous it is."
"Sorry." Daisy nodded.
"Its just a sword how dangerous can it be?" Jinx asked. "My guns are more dangerous."
Faye sighed, "A True Ice weapon can instantly kill anyone who isn't an Iceborn with just a touch. Daisy wouldn't even need to cut you with it. A slight touch and you would be dead. If she really wanted to, she could throw it at you and it would instantly kill you. If you think protection will help you.... it won't. The ice will freeze the armor off you and then kill you."
Jinx's eyebrows rose, "What if you made bullets out of them?"
"You wouldn't be able to touch it." Faye answered.
Jinx shrugged, "Don't need to." She pulled out her gun and waved it, "Duh.. gun."
"It wouldn't matter." Faye shook her head, "Even holding the hilt of that sword can kill you. The same thing will happen to the gun."
"How can she hold it then?" Vi asked, pointing to Daisy.
Faye pointed to her, "See. White hair. Blue eyes. Strength far beyond a normal human. She is an Iceborn. She has an innate connection to True Ice and specifically that sword."
Jinx looked at Daisy, or rather, her sword with newfound interest while Vi looked at Daisy with the same level of interest.
"Chembarons." Gregori steered the conversation back., "How many else?"
Sevika turned to him and sighed, "Other than those two... There is Crimson. He has the manpower and word is.... before Renni died she sold him a lot of Chemtech weapons."
"Chemtech?" Gregori asked.
She nodded, "Zaun's version of technology, replaces blood and works as its own power source. But it doesn't last and will slowly kill you."
Gregori took a deep breath and nodded. It seemed that there was more to Zaun than he had initially expected.
"Eramis. He makes deals with the Piltovans for the mines. Some of the councilors are in on it. Petrok Grime. He creates the stock people replace their limbs with. Velveteen Lenare, works on steam golems. Corina Veraza. She has her greenhouses with rare plants and the like. They find everything she does. Poisons, healing agents, anything you require she might possess. These four are peaceful.... rather... they are in it for the money. They don't care who leads as long as their businesses are safe." Sevika listed out on her fingers.
Everyone except Jinx leaned in to listen.
"Now for the violent ones.... The Poingdestre family. Family of Chembarons. Silco used to spend a lot of time, effort and men to keep them on the backfoot. Saito Takeda, Wencher Spindlow and Marko Volkage. These three are the truly violent ones. Lurk at the bottom. Kill anyone who crosses them without a second thought. Silco and the rest kept them from rising up and going after the Lanes but their men have been spotted recently. Now I'm not sure.... but there is a new player in town. Buying up property left and right. Buying up factories. Lots of money to spend and looking to buy. But other than that not much is known about her."
"Wasn't Silco terrorizing Zaun?" Caitlin voiced. "He was the reason the peace Vander built went to shit."
"Vander kept letting Piltover get away with forcing bad deals on us. Silco didn't want that. A proper deal. Both sides win. That's what he wanted." Sevika shook her head, "However, he was heavy-handed with how he handled things."
Jinx chuckled, "He let me roam free. Allowed me to do whateeeeever I wanted."
"And you got called crazy." Caitlin replied with missing a beat. "And you did do a lot of crazy things."
Jinx just kept chuckling.
Vi looked down, "You left out the Fireflies."
"Fireflies?" Annie looked up excited.
"Why's she so excited?" Jinx asked.
Briar answered for Annie, "Its what daddy calls her."
"Nicknames?" Jinx asked, "At your age?"
"He has names for all of us." Daani nodded, "Though he doesn't use them often these days."
Gregori scratched his beard, "You are older now." He turned to Vi, "Now... about these Fireflies."
"They are a fringe group. Kids. Orphans. Just a bunch of them under one roof. They run raids for storage caches and food. Won't be enemies." Vi tried to cover for them.
Gregori cracked his knuckles without thinking. "Quite a lot of players. And I suppose there are a bunch of them in Piltover as well. As long as they stay away from the ruins... they will live." He turned to his children, "Avoid these lot. The violent ones. And if they come after you. Kill them. Use your magic. Ambessa spoke of the flower group here." He looked at all of them, "If you see anything resembling a black rose.... get yourself as far away from it as possible. They are trouble you will want to avoid. All of you. And finally, don't use Hextechweaponry. The effects of the Voidon the human body are not something I would like to find out."
"What's bad about it anyway?" Jinx asked. "This Voidthing."
"You saw Caalyx right?" Gregori asked.
The five of them nodded.
"Caalyx is corrupted by it." Gregori explained, "Constantly tortured for over a thousand years. Others like him have lost their minds already. All seeking death or causing it. The Voidconsumes. It never stops. Using those weapons can give it avenue to return to this world. And this time.... it will destroy it. There are not enough allies to fight it. The further we can push the return of the Void, the better."
"Okay." Jinx spoke as she swung her legs onto a table, "Now that you know almost everything about us.... tell us about yourself. All of you."
Gregori chuckled.