Clouds against the starry sky - Sett x Soraka

Chapter 2

A knock on the door woke me up. I looked at the clock which hung over the fridge. It said 7pm. I had slept nearly the whole day and still felt a little tired, but that was fine with me. Slowly I stood up from the bed and walked up to the door to open it. "Just so you know, every evening the bar is opening downstairs at 6pm." Gragas grinned at me and I felt sick again. I nodded and smiled. "Thank you, that's good to know." He pointed at the stairs and winked. "Wanna give it a shot? You can have a drink for free since you're here for the first time!"

I really didn't feel well about this, but I didn't want to disappoint him, so I just smiled again, locked the door behing me and followed him downstairs.

The bar was full of people, most of them males, drinking, laughing and talking about whatever. I didn't want to be inpolite, so I didn't listen to anyone, or at least I tried. Gragas walked past the bar counter and prepared a glass. "What would you like to drink?" I pulled down my hood a little and looked at the other people around. I had never drunk before and didn't plan to, but with these surroundings I felt like I had no choice. "Do you have Whiskey...?", I asked, not really knowing how strong that stuff was. God, I wish I had known...

He grinned and gave me a glass with some weird-looking, orange drink in it. "There you go." I took a sip and instantly regretted it. It tasted awfully bitter and I just wanted to spit it out immediately, but that would have been rude, so I didn't. I just kept drinking and kept my head low, so noone would see how much I hated this stuff. As soon as I looked up I noticed that some guys were looking at me, grinning and talking quietly. It made me feel weird, so I stood up and said goodbye to Gragas, walking outside. He followed me and spoke to me with a tone in his voice that gave me goose bumps.

"C'mon, stay a little longer. It would surely be fun!" I just shook my head a little. "I'm sorry, I meet a friend. Maybe another time." Disappointedly he looked at me and went back to the bar counter. With a deep sigh I went outside to get some fresh air and took deep breaths. The taste of whiskey was still too present and I wanted to vomit very badly.

I went for a walk through the streets until I heard loud voices near me. 

"C'mon man, just one more pill. You get your money tomorrow, I swear!" "The boss needs his money NOW, you already owe him 200.000 Gold man." "Please,  I need those pills. He can have everything, my house, my family, just give me those damn pills!" I hid behind a corner and listened to the conversation, trying to be as quiet as possible. Carefully I looked around the corner and saw a man sitting on the floor crying and two people in black standing in front of him, kicking him. I wanted to help that man, but I was frozen, unable to move. The people in black took him by the arms and dragged him behind them.

Quietly I followed them and saw them entering a door in a dark alley. I started shaking a little. A tall man, maybe a security guard, opened the door for them and I heard loud music for a second. I really wanted to help that man, so I took a deep breath and walked up to that door, pulling my hood even deeper over my face. I was scared, but I knew I had to go in there. Maybe I would also find the information about the criminal happening which I was supposed to look for.

"Uhm... hey...", I said to the tall guy standing in front of the door. He looked down on me and grinned. "What i a little girl like you doing here? Lost your mommy?" My knees started shaking a little and I stared at the floor. "N-no... I... I want to go in there..." He laughed loudly. "Name?" I felt sick and wanted to run away, but I couldn't. I had to get in there. "I... I'm...." I didn't want to tell my true name because it wouldn't have gotten in there like that. "I'm Lucy..." He looked at a list and grinned even harder. "No Lucy on the list, as expected. Now hit the road, this is not a place for kids like you." I took a deep breath and ran away. At the end of the dark alley I wanted to run past the corner and ran into someone.

"Gosh, watch out!" His voice was dark and I looked at the ground. "I-I'm sorry." I wanted to go away, but he put his hand on my shoulder. I started shaking even harder and panic rose inside my head. I had never been so scared in my entire life. "Watch where you're going next time, you surely don't want to get in trouble with me." I nodded and looked at him. I froze. That was the guy I was searching for!

The bodyguard from the door walked up to us and grinned. "The little girl seems to mess with people a lot today, hm?" "Shut it." "Sorry boss." He looked at the floor and left this guy and me alone. "Stay away from here", the man said and looked at me. His eyes were gold-brown and intimidating. I just nodded.

He turned away and walked to the door. I really really wanted to go away, but I had a job to do. For Aurelion Sol. For the peace of Ionia. "H-hey, wait!" I ran after him and stopped right in front of him. The bodyguard came again and pushed me away from the man. "Stay away!" "B-but..." He pushed me again and I fell on the floor. The man looked at me and his look was colder than any look I had ever seen. "Don't mess with me, little girl." "You heard him, when Sett wants you to stay away you do so, get it?" I nodded a little. I had a little bruise on my leg, but it already started to heal. Carefully I stood up and went away.

Sett. At least I knew his name again, that was something I could work with.

As I reached "Gragas' Inn" I sat down in a dark corner of the bar and listened to other people's conversations, trying to find out more things about Sett and the criminal happenings in Ionia. It got late and many people had left the bar, just Gragas and a Yordle were there left and I wanted to go upstairs, until I heard what they were saying. I stopped and turned around to them.

"I heard Sett is having new pills down there. Wanna give him a visit tomorrow night? He has the best stuff!" The yordle laughed and drank a bear while Gragas grinned. "Sure man." As they saw me standing there I took all my courage together, took a deep breath and looked at Gragas. "Sorry for eavesdropping... I just.. Uh... could I join you guys tomorrow?" Gragas grinned at me lewdly and I really didn't want to join them, but I had to.

"U sure u can handle that? That part of the city is hardcore. Bit too hardcore for girls like you." I walked up to him, trying to look confident but actually being anxious as hell and smiled. "Believe me, I'm not that innocent." I felt so terrible about saying that, but I didn't know how else to make them take me with them. "I bet that", the yordle said and winked at me. I really really didn't feel well about this but kept smiling. "Okay, tomorrow 10pm, and wear something better than-" he pointed at my cape "-that." "I surely will. Thanks and good night!" Quickly I went upstairs, entered my room and locked it from the inside - just to be sure. Then I took off my cape and spread my wings. Hiding them felt wrong, but I had to. In that moment I really wished I didn't accept to do this, but at the same time I was sure I could make Ionia save and Sett a good person.

With these thoughts I put on my pajama and laid on the couch. It was more comfortable than the bed and I fell asleep after a few minutes.