Miriem
When I heard about an explosion that decimated a Piltover penthouse apartment, I will admit it took a while to figure out the cause. I mean, I kind of had a suspicion that it was somehow related to the Undercity, considering Piltover is known for being quite dull; all noblemen and proper attire and working business people who wouldn't dare cause such a stir. Prissy assholes if you ask me.
A lot of people could be at fault for this, and realistically all of them were from the Undercity. Tons of people down here go topside looking to steal stuff that they can trade off or sell when they get back to The Lanes. Those are really the only individuals from the Undercity that visit topside, so that tells me that someone from The Lanes most likely had a job in Piltover and caused a scene when running away where one thing led to another and a building got blown up.
There are only a few people that I know of that are ballsy enough to take on a job in such a wealthy area in Piltover, so that really narrows the suspects down. And after hearing about a dispute that happened between Deckard -a well known street rat from the underground- and a group of Vander's kids, it was pretty easy to put two and two together.
Vander is the man who "runs" The Lanes, he basically built it from the ground up and prides himself in keeping order down here. Well, more so recently. You see, he and my father (we'll get into daddy dearest a little more later don't you worry sweetheart) used to be so close that they considered themselves to be brothers, and they made it their mission to fight back against the neglective ways of Piltover, that is until something in Vander changed.
Now, don't get it twisted, I'm not saying I disagree with Vander's change in behavior, I'm just saying that one day he believed hole heartedly that we should fight back, and the next he didn't. I do have reason to believe that something spurred that drastic bipolar switch in him, but I'm not really one to ask questions.
Anyway, over the years, Vander decided it would be beneficial to take in children who didn't have a home and happened to be stuck down here, and seeing as the Undercity isn't the safest place to be period, I honestly applaud him for that.
There's Violet, Powder, Claggor, and Mylo, all of whom were the cause of the explosion that happened in that Piltover penthouse.
Having lived here my entire life, I know a little about how the enforcers will deal with the situation. They'll inevitably flood our streets, harassing innocent citizens of The Lanes while in search of the ones who did this. They will arrest people for doing the things they have to do to survive in the process of trying to find the teenagers responsible for the obliteration of a precious penthouse that will no doubt be rebuilt in a week's time. They will terrorize the people of the Undercity for something they honestly had coming.
I can't let that happen.
Sure I know that if you live in The Lanes, you shouldn't really expect much more than that. Life is horrible downside, I know that well enough from personal experience. But I want to at least take the burden of the enforcers off my people's backs while I have the chance.
And I can use my connections as Silco's infamous (yet mysterious) daughter to do something about it. When I was born, my father thought he was going to have a worthy heir to his growing empire of destruction and violence. He thought it would only be a matter of time before I would be ready to go slaughtering people left and right for his cause. Only it wasn't a matter of time, because when my mother passed soon after childbirth, and there was nobody to raise me, he decided he didn't want to be responsible for the growing up process that needed to happen in order for me to be what he wanted me to be. He neglected me, yet expected me to somehow become the ruthless, powerful, unstoppable force he initially wished for.
I grew up having to teach myself how to do basic everyday things, and not a single day went by where he did anything for me. Sure, he provided a house, food, and clothing but he didn't care enough to form a meaningful relationship with me. And no, I wasn't a prisoner in my home, I was allowed to do basically anything but bother him and his "important business". Yet all I wanted as a child was love and attention from my father and without that, I was miserable. For the longest time, I didn't even have a clue as to what his "important business" was. Until I started listening in.
And that leads me to my plan. I have to stop the enforcers from tearing my city apart even more than they already have.
It took a bit of brainstorming (and a couple scrapped ideas) to come up with a plan that would most likely work. About an hour ago, I had come up with one option; turn myself in and claim to be one of the people who got away. Since then, I have come up with another plan that I know will probably play out better than the first.
I had gone over the first one multiple times in my head when I came up with it. There are both pros and cons, but the cons just seemed to outweigh the pros. If I turn myself in, the obvious con is that I would be locked away in Stillwater for God knows how long, and for doing absolutely nothing. But, in the process, I would be removing a target placed on Vander's back.
Now, this new plan of mine is less miserable for me, or at least I think it will be. It is pretty risky, but that is only if my dad finds out. But hey, high risk, high reward, right? I really don't want to place myself in a cell to rot for the rest of my life, quite frankly that just sounds like hell to me. Selfish? Pshh, sure. Now, all I need to do is put this new foolproof plan into action. I think I have just the perfect way to do that.
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop is something that never fails to send a rush of adrenaline through me. It's surreal. The breeze brushing against my cheek and blowing through my hair. The feeling of weightlessness as I leap from one ledge to another. The feeling of relief when I'm able to stop and fully catch my breath again is not painful per se, but rather exhilarating. It's completely second nature to me and I absolutely love it.
I'm on my way to Benzo's, a pawnshop that I happen to frequent. They have a lot of great parts for any gadgets I decide to work on in my free time (oh, did I not mention I dabble in mechanics, engineering, coding, and chemistry? Oops, I guess it slipped my mind, so sorry) and I happen to have made a little friend there a couple of years ago.
Benzo is the shopowner, hence the name of the pawnshop being "Benzo's", and he just so happens to be close buddies with the one and only Vander! Which in turn means that Vander's kids all visit often.
Now- I know you'll say that it's quite stalker-ish to know that, but as I mentioned before, I frequent the shop, and sometimes when I'm just leaving, Vander's whole gaggle of children will be loudly goofing off while on their way in. It's called being observant.
I have yet to actually meet any of them, and I'd actually like to keep it that way. If I were to befriend them and they later find out I'm the "beloved" daughter of THE Silco, I'm sure all hell would break loose. I'd rather not. Thanks though!
I make sure to put my hood up and roll my sleeves down before descending from the rooftop across the street from Benzo's. Because I'm Silco's child, I'm pretty well known throughout the Undercity, having run around a lot as a child without the slightest care in the world.
Everyone has a general idea of what I look like. So, while I'm more recently known to be a bit of a mystery, people would still know who I am if I were to show up walking around with my ears and tattoos out in the open.
My mother was a specific breed of elf and even if there might be a wide variety of species here in the underground, it's rather rare to see an elf breed anywhere that's not prissy and flooded with riches. People know, from what they saw of me as a child, that I have strikingly blonde hair, which isn't very normal to come by these days, sharply pointed ears, and intricate silver tattoos all up and down my right arm that I happen to have been born with.
Over the past five or so years I've realized what could come of people knowing that I, Silco's child, openly roam the streets of The Lanes almost every single day. They would be absolutely terrified of me and I don't really want people scouring away from me in fear when I'm only trying to get some new equipment or clothes. Thus comes the (sort of) disguise; the hood that covers my hair and ears, and the sleeves that hide the tattoos that glimmer when they meet the light. It's just discrete enough that nobody would suspect I'm doing anything suspicious because I'm not, but also covers any tell-tale signs of my identity.
The rarity of elf breeds being anywhere that's not prissy and flooded with riches is part of the reason why I like to spend my time alone. I don't want to be taken as a misplaced Pilty while in actuality this slump is my home. I don't want it to affect the way people see me, which is also why I have taken to remaining completely out of the public eye. Keeping my ears and tattoos hidden is enough in the pawnshop.
As I walk into Benzo's I'm immediately greeted by Benzo himself, who recognizes me from the many many times I've been here. "How are you doing Lottie? Anything specific that you're looking for this time around?"
I smile politely, "Hey Benzo. I'm doing well, thanks. And yes, actually; I was hoping you'd have a carburetor in decent condition that I can use for this project I'm working on."
"Well, you're in luck. Ekko brought one in just today. Made sure to label it for me and everything, seeing as I don't know much about that stuff, he thought it would be helpful. It's in the back, I'll go grab it for you real quick."
He slips out the door behind him in search of the carburetor and I jump into action. I slip around the counter quickly and locate the golden cylinder right where I knew it would be, call it intuition, or call it seeing it through the mirror on the wall behind the counter. I make haste in slipping the pre-written note inside and pushing the button on the side that will sent the note to the other cylinder wherever it may be, before sliding the object into my backpack so I'll get the response when it's sent in.
By the time Banzo returns I'm casually walking over to the shelves lined with miscellaneous items others have pawned off.
When Benzo stops back behind the counter he sets the chunk of steal down on the counter, allowing me to inspect it to make sure it's to my standards.
"What are you planning to do with this doohickey? I assume you've got something special lined up for it?"
"Sure do. I'm going to try using it for a motorcycle I'm building. I know carburetors are usually used in cars nowadays since it's better for facilitating internal combustion inside an internal combustion engine that is only found in high performance transmission vehicles, namely cars, but I think I can figure out a way to make it work for what I'm doing."
"That's a lot of big words that I don't understand a lick of, but I wish you the best. If you have any problems with the motorcycle thingy, I'm sure Ekko would be happy to lend a hand."
I laugh, knowing little guy would most likely be elated to work on a project with me again, and I'm not being arrogant by saying that, I just know that he gets overexcited when working on something like this with someone who understands the full mechanics of it.
"I'd be happy to come by sometime soon and spend some more time with him. I feel like I haven't hung out with the booger in forever."
"I'll hold you to it, Vander's sick of me sticking Ekko with him when I have to talk with high-value customers."
He calculates how much it'll cost and I give him the necessary coins to pay, making sure to give him a tip, then head over to where I know Ekko is to say hey before finally leaving the shop. Ekko was happy to see me at Benzo's again and expressed his curiosity regarding my current project by making me promise to come by again soon with details on how the carburetor worked.
As I left the pawnshop, I decided that laying low at the house for the next couple of days as I waited for a response from Grayson would be the best course of action. It would ensure that I got ahold of her confirmation letter before my father and that I would be able to meet up with her as soon as possible.
Within the next few days, I'd gotten confirmation on a time and place that I'll be meeting Grayson. I told her vaguely that I needed to speak with her one on one about the Piltover explosion. It may be a bit misleading, seeing as it only has to do with getting Vander and his kids out of trouble with the enforcers, but if she thinks she'll be putting someone behind bars for the crime, I know she'll be there.
Her request was to meet up in the center of the main drawbridge (the one that separates the part of The Lanes that's actually above ground and Piltover) so that if she suddenly wanted to leave, she wouldn't have to travel throughout the Undercity in order to get back home. This way if things went south, we could just go our separate ways without having to jump many hoops to get away from each other. And we agreed to meet right before dark, and that's only because the bridge doesn't rise for ships at night; the port is closed after 5 pm.
On my way there I placed my hood over my head and made sure my sleeves covered my tattoos completely, the same way I do when I'm at Benzo's. Just to appear less suspicious to any passerby, whether they be from The Lanes or Piltover. The people of The Lanes fear me immensely because of my relation to Silco, and over time that fear has somehow traveled topside, so it's best to keep my identity hidden from anyone nearby.
Grayson doesn't even try to blend in as she stands at the dead center or the big fancy bridge, very obviously looking around like she's waiting for someone. Her enforcer uniform was unmistakable, but no one batted an eye. There were other enforcers littered around, all on night shift patrol. It wasn't uncommon for a few stragglers to cross the bridge this late, so nobody paid any mind to me as I walked over to her.
"You're late." Her tone was clipped and slightly annoyed. She was anxious about whatever I wanted to talk about, and she was being rude as a byproduct of my being a single minute late.
I roll my eyes as I respond, "I'll be late if I want to. I'm the one with information here, so if you want it you'll have to be a little gracious."
"Can you please just say what you asked me to hear?" She's still being fucking rude.
I sigh, but nevertheless start speaking, "I know that you think I've come to rat out the kids who robbed the penthouse, but I'll say right now, that's not what I'm here to do."
"This was an obvious waste of time. Goodbye, Miri-"
"I'd advise you to listen to what I have to say."
"You, little girl, have no place 'advising' me to do anything!"
"Just humor me a little, would you?" I shoot her an unamused look.
There's a beat of silence as she watches my face, debating whether or not to stay.
"Make it quick, please," her rough voice murmurs.
"I'm not here to turn anybody in, I'm here to negotiate."
"And what is it that you want to negotiate?" It's clear that there are a few details I'm leaving out on purpose. What it is that I'm willing to give, and what I'm asking for in return.
"I want you to take all of your little enforcer buddies, and leave the Undercity alone."
"Wha-"
"I want you to stop looking for the 'criminals' who blew up the fancy-ass penthouse and got away."
"Absolutely not! Who the fuck do you think you ar-"
"I want you to make sure your enforcers don't go down to arrest any innocent people for no reason. I want you enforcers to stay out of The Lanes unless I say explicitly tell you that it's okay."
"And why the hell should we do that?" She has taken a defensive stance and there was a bite to her words. But her defiance won't matter in a second, she'll agree. I just know she will.
"I am willing to give you valuable information regarding my father and his upcoming schemes," as soon as the words came out of my mouth, Grayson was struck frozen in obvious shock, opening and closing her mouth as if she couldn't think of anything to say. "Living in his place of work, I've overheard some things. Important things, all of which could lead you straight to him. You'll have a way to take him down. All on your own, just with a simple tip. From yours truly."
I was bluffing, of course. Now, don't get me wrong, the information I have for her is completely true, but it'll be nowhere near what it takes to take him down for good. But she doesn't know that. I knew for a fact that there is only one person truly capable of fully taking him down, me. Is it a bit egotistical to think that? Maybe. But is it also true? Absolutely.
I know how he plays his cards and how he thinks when making a move against any and all possible threats. I've seen it first hand, many many times over, and there's not a doubt in my mind that the person who knows the most about him is his own daughter. Doesn't matter how corrupt our relationship is. Doesn't matter how bad he is at being a father. Doesn't matter how much I absolutely loathe him. I know that being someone he's just about given up any hope for and overlooked over and over again is the one person that can gather enough intel on him to take him down once and for all.
"I can't just make this deal with you, I already have a deal with Vander that limits my enforcer's involvement with the Undercity. And plus, you're his daughter. How do I know you're not setting me up?" I give her an unimpressed look.
"Grayson, you know very well how poorly he treats me. I have just as much a reason to take him down as you do. Only I can't, he knows me. But I know you and your armed forces can." She still doesn't respond, skeptical. "As for your deal with Vander, the people down there are starting to go against him, because of your enforcers causing problems down there. They're getting restless. You clearly aren't holding up your side of that deal and it's turning the Undercity into utter chaos."
Still silent on the enforcer's side. I continue. "If you have a deal with me that ensures you will not under any circumstances go down there unless I give the okay, I will continue to give you information until Silco is gone for good."
"What kind of information?"
"You'll find out if you agree." Putting her in a place where she's more curious than rational is really what was going to seal the deal.
"Only if I can call the deal off at any time."
"That's not how this works. You agree to have a deal with me until I'm done with you. I assure you, with this alliance, we will take Silco down."
"And you're absolutely positive that the information you give will be useful?"
"Yes." It's clear that I'm the one with real authority here, and I can tell she sees that too.
She sucks her lips against her teeth, taking all the time in the world to think things over before responding, "Deal."
Her hand is thrust out toward me, I take it in my own and give a tight squeeze as I shake it. I turn my body away from her so I'm facing the water below us, not that I can see it well in the dark anyway.
"You said you had information for me now?" I simply hum in response. "And what may that be exactly?"
"There's an illegal Shimmer shipment coming in later this week. He didn't exactly specify on what day, but he did say it's going to dock momentarily on one of Piltover's ports. I know that it's illegal to fly an airship that's owned by outside corporations anywhere in Piltover, so that'll at least give you a reason to board any suspicious airship. I say you keep guards stationed at all of the docks and go over the registrations for every airship that comes in or out until Friday. His ship will be registered under the name of Harrison Hardy as a part of 'Hardy's Heating and Air'. A woman with short gray hair named Purl Evans should be piloting."
"How will this help us take him down? And what the hell even is Shimmer?" She furrows her eyebrows, looking at me in open suspicion.
"The way to weaken him enough to take him down is by taking out his supply little by little. And just a warning, it will take some time to do so, don't be too hasty. 'Shimmer' is a highly addictive and extremely dangerous drug he's in the process of creating. He intends to kill Vander and use Shimmer to gain control of The Lanes. With Shimmer, he will be unstoppable down there. That airship will have the necessary ingredients that his head scientist will need in order to perfect the drug. If we stop that shipment from getting to him, it should give us some time until he's able to make any advancements in making Shimmer." I say.
"Hmm. And are there going to be people guarding the ship?"
"I assume so. But they will be no match for the big deadly guns you no doubt give to all of your enforcers."
A small smile spreads across her lips as a look of pure appreciation consumes her face, it ensures that she has trust in our deal. "Thank you, Miriem. This will really help all of us. I'm sure of it." Mic drop, I have her exactly where I want her. This meeting went perfectly.
I turn and start walking away, yelling in her direction a few parting words. "Pleasure doing business, Gray. We'll talk when I have more for you."
"See you, Mira."
As I make my way back throughout the streets of The Lanes, I watch as one by one enforcers looking to arrest people get calls on their radios, telling them to report to the law enforcement office immediately for a briefing. A small smirk makes its way on my face as little by little the Undercity is rid of any and all Piltover enforcers.
Citizens and shop owners stand still in place along the street, looking at one other in confusion as groups of enforcers round up and travel towards the "main" passageway that leads topside.
(Of course, they don't know of the heavy duty elevator that most people of The Lanes use to travel to and from the Undercity. I'm honestly glad because with them gone, they won't have the opportunity to find it. If they were to somehow stumble upon it, in a matter of minutes there would be Piltover guards stationed there, ready to search every person that enters and exits that elevator, looking for anyone to arrest on charges of thievery after finding stolen (obviously expensive looking, so obviously from Piltover) items in their bags.
If they were to shut that down, not only would people who do happen to steal from topside in order to make ends meet down here, but also completely innocent citizens of The Lanes who use that elevator for whatever reason specific to them, would be robbed of things they need to survive.)
I just really hope this makes the people of the Undercity happy, even if they don't know it was me who made it possible for us to have our home to ourselves once again. No topside law enforcement officers looking to ruin the lives of our people just for the fun of it. Just how it should be.
Once I reach the familiar bar, I walk in, making sure to keep as low of a profile as humanly possible and take a seat at the table near the back. Spotting a certain group of teenagers hanging around a nearby wall, I turn my back so that they can't see my face. Even if they don't know who I am or my true identity, I know it's best to just slip by unnoticed so they can't come to find out.
Catching sight of Benzo at the bar standing next to Vander, I choose to take the extra precaution of keeping my head down. If Benzo were to recognize me here it's sure to raise some questions, none of which I'm willing to be asked. Despite the fact that his son knows who I really am, Benzo himself does not. Though he does know me as a regular at his shop, and someone he can call a friend (if not one of his, then certainly one of his sons).
And seeing how close he is with Vander, I'd like to keep it that way. If I were to draw Vander's attention there's no doubt in my mind that he'll immediately know who I am, after all, he was best friends, brothers even, with my father, and it would be really easy for him to recognize the similarities my face has with both Silco and my mother (he was actually the one who set them up together).
Thus, remaining only known to Benzo as a girl who comes on a couple of times a month for spare parts is better than being spotted here by both him and Vander as it will only raise suspicion.
A burly man at the left side of Vander starts causing a ruckus, saying "even if the enforcers have started to retreat from our home, who's to say that they won't return tenfold? Who's to say they won't come back with even more violence than before? Even if the enforcers go back to their fancy houses and perfect families, topside will never notice just how badly we have it here. They will never stop taking from us, all they do is take, take, take. They will never stop! We have to fight back!" Vander just turns a cheek at the argument even while the rest of the men and women in the bar begin to shout their agreement. All of this brings a whole new idea to my mind.
I turn towards the door just as I see Sevika walk in, and I immediately know she's the perfect person to carry out this new plan of mine (wow, I'm making a lot of plans recently aren't I?) I let out a low whistle, alerting her (and unknowingly also the group of teenagers near me) of my presence, and make my way to where she's waiting for me by the doors. When I reach her, I lightly grab ahold of her wrist lightly and tug her around a corner.
"I need you to act like you want to fight back against Piltover," I say to her in a hushed whisper.
"Miriem... What?" Seeing as I started the conversation with the most abrupt part of the favor I'm asking for, I realize I may need to elaborate a little.
"The enforcers leaving the Undercity was my doing. I met with Chief Grayson about an hour ago, and she broke her deal with Vander and agreed to a new one with me. I give her information that she thinks will help her take down my father in exchange for her officers fucking off." She motions with her hand for me to keep going, so I continue.
"No doubt he will soon find out it was me, and he'll want to punish me for it, but I don't want to worry about that right now. I already know that a lot of these people will happily turn their backs on Vander, and as bad as that makes me feel, I can't stop them. I'm not sure anyone can change their minds at this point, it's inevitable. I just need you to pretend to be against Vander, as in openly 'believing' that you think fighting back against Piltover is what may better our circumstances down here. Pretend to join Silco and his growing army, so that I can escape whatever he'll plan to do to me when he finds out I was behind the enforcers leaving.
"After that, I'll meet with some people who I know I can round up, they will join me and anyone else who wants to help take him down for good. You, however, will be our inside man, you'll tell me about any upcoming things he's planning. And it'll work because I know you don't believe in what he's doing. You're with me, you want to take him down. That is, I mean, only if you agree to help."
"Miriem, you know I love you like a daughter. No matter how close I am to Vander and his family, I would never say no to something like this. That was a lot of information all at once, but I can tell that it's a good idea that might just work. If you think that me acting like the best friend of the man I absolutely despise will aid in bringing him down for good, then, of course. I'll do it. What do you want me to do?" She replies.
"Just go in there and start a scene, get people to join you in fighting back; tell Vander that we need to defend ourselves and fight back against Piltover if we want to actually make better lives for ourselves. For all of the terrible things, they're doing to us. For them repressing us and ignoring the horrible conditions that we have to live with, just anything that will get them to go against Vander and make it more believable to Silco that you want to join him."
She nods before giving me a tight hug and a kiss on my forehead. "Thank you Sevika. Thank you so much. I want more than anything to make my father understand that what he's doing isn't right. To me and to the Undercity. For everyone down here. I promise that together, we'll get justice."
"I fully believe we'll do some great things for our people. I love you, kiddo," she lets me go but keeps her hold on my shoulders, looking me directly into my eyes.
"I love you too."
"Showtime, bud. I'll see you whenever." She walks away, her steps turning into stomps to show that she's 'angry'. I take only a couple of steps forward to lean against the wall by the door to watch silently from the sidelines as the scene begins to play out. She sits down at one of the tables, listening to the comments others are giving and the way Vander shoots them down each time.
People shout about how "we can't continue cowering and hiding in fear", and that "if we don't take the chance to push back, nothing with ever change for us". Sevika keeps up her act by yelling out an agreement with what's being said.
Finally, after a couple of minutes of listening to the others argue one-sidedly with Vander, she stands up, banging her fist on the table in front of her, "We should hit them back. We've got the numbers to beat them."
Another guy who's standing a few feet away from Sevika, shouts in agreement, "Yeah! Let's teach them what it means to mess with us." A chorus of agreement is heard all throughout the bar.
Vander remains calm, nevertheless. He lights his pipe and takes a puff, letting it linger in the air for merely a second before speaking. "You sure that's what you want?" His British accent is thick and deep, as usual.
'Let's do it,' is heard from the very stallholder who was stating this case when I first walked in.
He fully blows out all of the tobacco from his lungs before he continues, still remaining calm. "We crossed that bridge before, and we all know how that ended."
The stallholder butts in. "You're just protecting your kids!"
I scoff. A lot of children down here would do anything for their parents to care about them as much as Vander cares about his. Myself included. No matter how much I loathe what Silco working toward, it would have been nice to get some love and affection from my father growing up. Affection is all that Vander has ever shown his kids, and that stallholder has no business pinning that against Vander.
It's utter bullshit to claim that Vander's doing this just to protect those kids. He knows damn well they can protect themselves, I mean take a look at the destruction they caused in Piltover just yesterday. He doesn't want to fight back because he knows that right now all that would come from that is our people dying. He's not trying to protect his kids, he's trying to protect literally every single person who lives in the Undercity.
Vander glances at the group of teenagers who're standing not even five feet from me, also listening in on the conversation. "I'm protecting our people. I'd do the same for any one of you. We look out for each other. It's the way it's always been. This will blow over. We just need to stand together."
"The Vander I knew, the one who built the underground, wouldn't be afraid to fight." Sevika knew she was striking a nerve, hinting slyly at the falling out between himself and my father. At the way Vander has changed his views on how to run The Lanes since then.
Vander steps up to Sevika, pipe in mouth, taking a puff. "Do I look afraid?"
"No. You look weak." She turns and gives a loud whistle, similar to my own, only louder, to signal everyone who's against him to follow her as she walks out of the bar.
She passes by me, meeting my eye and giving me a wink, and I go to follow a few seconds after she's out of the room, only to be stopped by a small hand grasping my wrist from behind.
I look over and see Ekko, and his friends not too far behind.
"What are you doing? Are you seriously with them?"
"Ekko I need you to trust me on this, okay?" I speak lowly, only looking at him, practically ignoring the others standing behind him. "I need to go," I try to wriggle my arm from him, but the little kid has a surprisingly strong grasp and doesn't let me go. I let out a sigh, looking back down at his face to make eye contact. I make it a point to keep ignoring our viewers.
"It was you wasn't it?" I can't do this right now.
"Ekko, I'm serious, he'll be mad when I get back. I have to leav-"
"It was you, wasn't it Mira?" The little dude was really pushing it right now. We're getting too much attention from a certain group of people, and their father is watching as well at this point. It doesn't help that now they can see my face, I mean it's good that my ears and tattoos are covered but I still can't risk it.
"Yes! Ekko, it was me. And now he'll have my head," I violently rip my arm from him and take a step backward, my stance guarded. "Do you know what he'll do to me when he finds I helped the 'enemy'?"
"Mira?" Benzo questions as he steps forward. Great. Now he too has recognized me.
"Actually," Fuck it. I'm done with this. I am done hiding, it is so hard keeping my true self from everyone around me every single time I go outside. I'm tired of not being able to have fun, or have friends my own age. I'm done caring about the "consequences" or how people will react. I'm exhausted and this is my breaking point. I know this might end up costing me, but I'm done. "It's Miriem." I pull my hood down, and my ears revealed to everyone present.
Their faces show various expressions of fear as if I'll do something to them. All except Ekko. He knows I would never harm him or anyone close to him. Yet I watch as all of the teenagers near me move back in terror, in order to get away from me. All except for Ekko, and surprisingly Violet, who has seemingly become more curious than afraid. Vander and Benzo don't stray from their spots. Benzo specifically, doesn't seem that shocked, as if he predicted it, which actually doesn't surprise me that much at all.
"Ekko, get away from her." I hear who I assume to be Mylo say while trying to tug Vi away as well. She doesn't move from her spot.
"I don't know why you lot act as if I'll hurt you," I turn my attention directly to Vander's god-forsaken children.
"I just saved your asses. Because of me, you don't have to worry about getting arrested. You should be thanking me. And Vander, so sorry about your precious deal being broken, but it was the only way to get the enforcers to leave for good.
"I know I'm Silco's child, but that has nothing to do with who I am. It says nothing about my character. I am my own person and I sure as hell don't agree with his beliefs on how we should handle our little battle with Piltover. I'm on your side believe it or not.
"Now," I turn around fully, my back to them, and look at my feet. "If you'll excuse me, I have to return to my dear father. After all, I more likely than not have a very enticing punishment waiting for me."
And with that, I left. I put my hood back down as I walked through the streets of The Lanes. I don't even bother using the rooftops, I'm tired and all I want at the moment is a little rest even though I know I won't be getting any tonight.