Orion's head pounded like a brutal hangover. He sat on his gray, uncomfortable bed next to his laid-out items with a deep frown. Beside him, the fractured vial.
"My room is barricaded because of fear of being alone at home," Orion mused aloud, now less fearful as he became more aware of his circumstances. "The roof incident was a while ago."
A small, bubbling sensation of excitement rose within him.
"But... the Undercity? Piltover, Noxus, Runeterra?! The Hound of the Undercity and the Last Drop? This is definitely Arcane!"
Eyeing the broken vial, he muttered, "Transmigration. I've taken over the corpse of a different universe's version of me."
"Wait, is this just like those- do I have special powers?! Next time on- nah." Orion joked but his body twitched with excitement. Standing abruptly, he began rattling off different cues.
"Character screen! Status. Status window? Inventory. Ah... mmm... Display window?"
He listed off commands before giving up in disappointment.
"Round two then," Orion sucked in air. "Magic Missile! Fireball! Levit- wait, Runeterra magic doesn't operate on verbal cues or chants, does it?"
Scratching his head, Orion tried to recall what one could do beyond the insane charts and diagrams. Those insane charts were Hextech, Jayce and Viktor's invention to use magic with science.
'Five runes... Five, right?' Orion frowned.
"There was also... Celestial, Spiritual, and Elemental magic."
He had no clue how to use any of them.
'Magical energy circulates through the body like blood after you draw it in, right? I need to figure out how to reach it, channel it, and shape it. Nothing lost from trying.'
Orion closed his eyes and tried to reach out in his mind. According to League lore mana moved like rivers through the world. Mana was either in abundance or scarce, like in Piltover. If mana was scarce then even seasoned mages would have trouble gathering enough for their purposes.
This concept of magic, drawing upon it like from a river or stream, or connecting all life, wasn't original or unique. But for Orion to achieve it, especially on his first try, would be nothing short of miraculous… or even impossible.
'Described as drawing water from a river...' In his mind, Orion visualized and tried to feel it.
A far-off river glowing with magical energy. Instead of one appearing, however, countless rivers materialized, all flowing in a single direction. Each river moved in harmony, bundled together like rope.
He could see little strands break away, perhaps indicating someone far off was drawing upon the Arcane or a supernatural occurrence.
'But how do I reach it?' Orion's brow tightened, sweat beading his forehead.
Mentally, he "plucked" at the stream, tugging gently like thread from fabric. It felt alive, dynamic… but resistant to brute force.
Steadying himself, Orion guided the energy toward him and allowed it to flow through his body.
At first it was exhilarating. A flood of vitality. But without a proper outlet the power quickly turned unstable.
Needles of pain jabbed at his skin and organs as energy leaked uncontrollably. From the outside it looked like Orion was just sat there, twitching. No radiant light. No grand display.
Internally, however, he was panicking.
His eyes snapped open. Desperate, Orion thrust his hand forward in an attempt to cast the magic outward.
A faint blue light sparked and sputtered weakly. It held enough force to knock the diary off the bed. Visually, it looked like a dust cloud shooting out from his palm, except beautiful and glittery.
"YES!" Orion shouted, elated.
He leapt up, triumphant, but then immediately regretted it.
The world spun.
Fatigue hit like a crashing wave, and his vision blurred before he collapsed backward onto the bed.
Orion lay there with his head spinning. 'Now this is a trip... Why am I so damned hungry all of a sudden?'
Somewhere between exhaustion and hunger, between spinning vision and a pounding skull, he felt unsettled. Memories from the other soul, this body's original persona, continued to fuse with his own.
"Tweet."
Rolling his head back, Orion squinted.
"A blue bird? In the Undercity?" he muttered in disbelief.
It chirped, hopping along the taut edge of the tarps near the ceiling, looking down. Its beady eyes looked curious and endearing but also annoyed. The occasional sharp chirp and twitchy movement made it feel like the bird had caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.
"What? Want to come in?"
"Chirp!"
An angry chirp, followed by a fluttering of wings as it departed.
"Well, excuse me..." Orion grunted, sitting back up and dismissing it as quickly as the bird had dismissed him. His stomach growled again.
"I need some food... I'm starving."
Unbarring the door, a thin layer of dust sprinkled down. Orion made his way downstairs, cautiously peering over the rusted metallic rail into what used to be his home.
A small fear still lingered. Perhaps his, perhaps the other boy's. Regardless, it slowed his steps.
But this "home" wasn't much of one anymore.
Dust and mold coated every surface. A small table barely fit into the cramped room, and the kitchen was a mere step away. Fortunately, the power still worked.
'Yeah, someone should've cut off the electricity by now. This boy was right about one thing- his parents made a deal with someone, somewhere.'
Against one wall leaned a moldy mattress, perhaps never to be used again. Just the sight of it brought tears to Orion's eyes and an ache to his heart. The usual fate of miners who didn't return. The kid's parents were likely dead.
But this surge of emotion- grief, sorrow, loss- gave rise to a fresh wave of anger.
"Fuck this place. And fuck this kid," Orion snarled, gritting his teeth.
Anger at himself, at this body's previous soul, and at the swirling, untraceable confusion that rattled his mind. He hated what he couldn't control, and this- this- was driving him insane. Every other moment he had to question which thoughts or feelings were truly his.
Walking slowly toward the door, shaking his head and exhaling, he grabbed his jacket hanging near rotted metal-fused boards. It was too big for him now, but his parents would always say he'd grow into it.
"They're NOT my parents!" Orion shouted. "Fuck off!"
His voice lowered, but the frustration lingered.
"Food, shelter, and clothes. The three essentials for survival."
Back upstairs, Orion stored everything non-essential while bringing only a few things. From his belongings: two full bronze coins and three holed ones. He stuffed the strange gun into his jacket before heading out. The rest, one full bronze and two holed, he left in the drawer.
Taking all the money was dangerous. He could be mugged. But leaving it all behind posed its own risk because someone could break in. Splitting the coins felt like the best compromise.
Before leaving, he grabbed one of the rotted metal-fused boards from just inside the entrance where his jacket had hung and propped it in place to make the door appear sealed and abandoned from the outside.
'Come to think of it, this boy didn't lock or barricade the door before going upstairs?'
The key had been with his parents, so he couldn't lock it from the outside.
'Maybe he was hoping—no, he did hope. I hoped... my- his parents would return. So I left it unlocked.'
Orion growled in frustration as the confusion of identity slipped in again.
'Damn it...'
Regardless, passersby might be fooled. This was the best he could manage. Perks of living in an isolated alley.
There weren't many.
While the depressing nature of his circumstances loomed overhead, Orion couldn't help but smile as he turned to walk out of Emberflit Alley. Familiarity and excitement blended like stepping back in time and recapturing the magic of his first childhood video games.
The air warmed slightly as he stepped from the alley onto the local road. Steampunk and Victorian buildings lined both sides, stone and brick streets, electric lights humming softly between flickers, and the green glow of Chemtech devices scattered throughout. The street was sparsely populated, with only the occasional figure moving quietly in either direction.
Orion felt like a child again. Everything was new and unique- kind of. Some memories muddled the magic, pulling at the corners of his mind. Wary and cautious, yet filled with a bubbling excitement... until a faint scream pierced the air and snapped him out of it.
His heart skipped a beat. Instinct kicked in and he quickened his pace, heading toward the collector road where more people were. But just like before, the fear melted into awe at new sights.
Rat-faces. Hybrid humanoids. Twisted humans with malformed features. Steam-whistling augmentations. Chemtech weapons that hissed angrily. Rambunctious laughter and distorted, mischievous giggles echoed through the streets.
The world came alive.
Buildings that had loomed far away now surrounded him. Tall and imposing. Neon signs and bright lights stuck out of nearly every structure, casting distorted reflections across puddles and windows.
Open drug stalls, bottles of liquor without their corks, and creatures locked in cages and displayed for sale. The scent of sizzling meats and sweets battled with rust, burning oil, and the overbearing perfume of prostitutes. At nearly every stall someone was bartering or shouting.
Around one set of barrels, two groups were playing liar's dice and liar's cards.
"Ye' get more satisfaction from the sound it makes!" one man said, shaking a cup filled with dice.
"'Ye get more satisfaction from the-' fuckin' shut the fuck up! What are you, a child? Got an ear fetish, don't cha'? Stickin'-little things in there that make your pe-"
The cup flew across the air and struck the man in the head. Its dice scattered across the street and a full-on brawl broke out between the two groups.
One of the weird creatures grabbed a human from the liar's cards side and opened its mouth. A bile-like, yellow substance spewed out and the man screamed. He convulsed before collapsing to the ground. Dead? Unconscious? Don't know but the fight continued around him regardless.
Orion's lit-up eyes quickly darted away. It was a weird gladiatorial form of entertainment that he wanted to watch but knew he shouldn't.
'Don't stare. You'll get in trouble.'
His stomach growled loudly, reminding him why he'd come out in the first place.
There was a food stall the boy- he- had visited before, close to the main road. The road itself cut straight through the Undercity running from Piltover's Bridge of Progress all the way down to the eastern docks.
"It'll be expensive..." he muttered. "But damn I'm hungry."
-----------------
"Oi, tell boss-lady the little boy survived!"
"Tell boss-man or boss-lady? Both bosses."
"Boss-lady, ye' fuckin' shit-for-brains! She's the one payin' us!"
"But boss-man bigger boss. Boss over ye' little boss-lady. Big Boss."
Sharp, metallic clinks cut through the surrounding noise as a creature growled.
"I'll fuckin' kill you. TELL BOSS LADY!"
"YESSIR!"