Jayce knew now what needed to be done. What needed to be changed to stop Piltover—and the world—from becoming a wasteland filled with empty carcasses and regret. He knew what to do to reach his friend, the love of his life. If he could manage to do so, that still wasn't clear; his body and soul hurt, and it would take practically a miracle to change the Herald's mind. But this is what this chance was. The gift of time travel, another attempt at fixing a many wrongs. Another chance to see Viktor.
The familiar smell of ozone reached his nostrils as magic gathered around him. He looked at older Viktor for the last time, feeling both wonder in his chest and incredible pain; he never thought he would have the chance to see his partner grow old. His image was fading, but the man's words and advice resonated in his mind. Jayce had a mission, and he was determined not to fail.
Too bad that the universe always had creative ways of telling him to go fuck himself.
The spell was transporting him across time and space, and then something...happened. He couldn't pinpoint what; this kind of wild magic was unpredictable, but he could sense that there was something else interfering. Something was pulling him towards a different direction, as if an invisible force was reaching out towards the very fabric of the universe and tugging.
From his end, after turning the machine on, Viktor would see swirling magic forming around the machine in odd, web-like patterns. There were coils of electricity crackling and making the small tools, the occasional pen, and the papers on his desk and other surfaces tremble and start to float a few feet in the air. It was followed by is a quick flash of light that might have blinded the scientist for a second, even with his trusted goggles.
The pen and other gadgets dropped from the air, making a clinking sound as they hit the floor and rolled around. It wasn't the only thing that made a loud thud; there was a dull sound like a body dropping accompanied by a heavy, metallic clank. The energy was still cracking but slowly diminishing, this time surrounding a figure hunched over. He was human in shape, with mismatched and dirtied clothes and disheveled long hair falling over sunken eyes, piercing gold in color. Jayce was holding himself upright but barely, with one knee on the floor, his hand wrapped around the hilt of the butterfly-shaped hammer, panting harshly.
It's possible that Viktor made this experiment too strong. When things from papers to abandoned tea cups started floating for a moment, Viktor started to float just a little bit too. Once everything crashed back down, he ended up sprawled on the floor, and the bright light was more than the goggles could handle, so Viktor ended up throwing his arms up over his head. He had the fleeting thought that he was about to die because, after all, he had seen the destructive power of a single hex crystal.
When the light dissipated, there were still blue sparkles shining in the air as they settled around the form of a man kneeling there in the midst of the machine. Now that was definitely not what Viktor had been going for. Sitting upright, Viktor pushed his goggles up onto the top of his head.
"... Hello? I would ask if you are all right, but I think, given the fact that you were not supposed to be here, that is probably a stupid question."
Viktor had made his experiment strong enough to influence the arcane on a time-line and inter-dimensional scale, but Jayce didn't realize it just yet. All he knew was that one moment he was atop the ruin of the Hextower from a macabre future, and the next he was kneeling on the floor of a very real, still-in-one-piece lab. That ad made no sense. He should be back at the basement of the Hextower from his own time line.
Even while the magic still sizzled around him and his vision swam due to his exhaustion and nausea, he could tell he was in the wrong place. He tried to stand straighter, injured leg protesting every movement even as he soldiered on, resting plenty of his weight on the hammer. The head made a distinctive metallic sound as it scraped against the floor while Jayce turned around to face the owner of that voice.
It sounded familiar; he would know that accent anywhere, except it was not clogged with pain. It wasn't raspy or exhausted due to lack of air or pain brought by a disease. Jayce almost dropped the hammer when his eyes landed on the other man.
Viktor.
He had wanted to see him again for so long, to talk to him, to apologize, and to tell him a million things that were always left unsaid between them. Gold eyes widened in shock as he took in the view of his partner. Younger, healthier. As beautiful as Jayce remembers him being when they first met - not like the man wasn't still striking to his eyes nowadays. But this was wrong.
"You're not my Viktor." Was all he managed to say before his eyes rolled back into his skull and he collapsed onto the floor.
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Date: 2025-12-22 06:25 pm (UTC)amany wrongs. Another chance to see Viktor.The familiar smell of ozone reached his nostrils as magic gathered around him. He looked at older Viktor for the last time, feeling both wonder in his chest and incredible pain; he never thought he would have the chance to see his partner grow old. His image was fading, but the man's words and advice resonated in his mind. Jayce had a mission, and he was determined not to fail.
Too bad that the universe always had creative ways of telling him to go fuck himself.
The spell was transporting him across time and space, and then something...happened. He couldn't pinpoint what; this kind of wild magic was unpredictable, but he could sense that there was something else interfering. Something was pulling him towards a different direction, as if an invisible force was reaching out towards the very fabric of the universe and tugging.
From his end, after turning the machine on, Viktor would see swirling magic forming around the machine in odd, web-like patterns. There were coils of electricity crackling and making the small tools, the occasional pen, and the papers on his desk and other surfaces tremble and start to float a few feet in the air. It was followed by is a quick flash of light that might have blinded the scientist for a second, even with his trusted goggles.
The pen and other gadgets dropped from the air, making a clinking sound as they hit the floor and rolled around. It wasn't the only thing that made a loud thud; there was a dull sound like a body dropping accompanied by a heavy, metallic clank. The energy was still cracking but slowly diminishing, this time surrounding a figure hunched over. He was human in shape, with mismatched and dirtied clothes and disheveled long hair falling over sunken eyes, piercing gold in color. Jayce was holding himself upright but barely, with one knee on the floor, his hand wrapped around the hilt of the butterfly-shaped hammer, panting harshly.
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Date: 2025-12-23 07:41 pm (UTC)When the light dissipated, there were still blue sparkles shining in the air as they settled around the form of a man kneeling there in the midst of the machine. Now that was definitely not what Viktor had been going for. Sitting upright, Viktor pushed his goggles up onto the top of his head.
"... Hello? I would ask if you are all right, but I think, given the fact that you were not supposed to be here, that is probably a stupid question."
no subject
Date: 2025-12-28 11:11 pm (UTC)Even while the magic still sizzled around him and his vision swam due to his exhaustion and nausea, he could tell he was in the wrong place. He tried to stand straighter, injured leg protesting every movement even as he soldiered on, resting plenty of his weight on the hammer. The head made a distinctive metallic sound as it scraped against the floor while Jayce turned around to face the owner of that voice.
It sounded familiar; he would know that accent anywhere, except it was not clogged with pain. It wasn't raspy or exhausted due to lack of air or pain brought by a disease. Jayce almost dropped the hammer when his eyes landed on the other man.
Viktor.
He had wanted to see him again for so long, to talk to him, to apologize, and to tell him a million things that were always left unsaid between them. Gold eyes widened in shock as he took in the view of his partner. Younger, healthier. As beautiful as Jayce remembers him being when they first met - not like the man wasn't still striking to his eyes nowadays. But this was wrong.
"You're not my Viktor." Was all he managed to say before his eyes rolled back into his skull and he collapsed onto the floor.