Arcane ~ QUEENDOM (seasons 1 & 2)

II ~ Rooftops of Piltover

~ SPOILERS for the 1st episode of Arcane ~

(this takes place BEFORE "The Ice Cube" => unless it is specified, none of the short storylines (chapters) necessarily take place in chronological order)

(this is the setting for "Mouser")

Whilst the arrangement of flesh and muscles hanging off her bones was her greatest tool, she found pride in being, as the saying went, more than a pretty face. She looked up from her notebook, hiding most of the runes she had scribbled on the page with her hand. She didn't want her sisters to parade over and start inspecting her work, which was already of lesser importance and unlikely to cause irreparable damage. They'd only rarely let her experiment with the real artefacts they so avidly collected.

   "I need to leave soon..."

   "Can I come along?!" Dee's excited tone was hopeful, as always.

Unsurprisingly, Lee firmly stated she couldn't:

   "You cannot..." Her sentence was cut short by beeping, emerging from one of the monitors. Mee, who was in charge of surveillance, smacked her workspace with her hand five times. Doing so, a thread of her blonde hair slipped out of her messy bun. She wore at least a dozen rings, they banged loudly against the metal surfaces the mages had installed all over their research room.

The five sisters gave themselves the titles of mages, inventors, collectors, researchers, scientists... What they truly were was for whoever they met to decide. They were from another dimension, a faraway planet where the Arcane's power was but a mere rumor and reduced to a barely distinguishable strength. Nevertheless, they travelled this world relentlessly, fascinated by each and every one of its aspects.

The four inventors rushed over to the screens Mee was expertly watching over. Jee motioned at one of the colorful digital recreations of the area they were focusing on.

   "Looks like there's some action on that rooftop, but isn't that an Academy building?"

   "Yeah, Piltover's elite is finally getting what it deserves..." Lee threw her an inquiring look and she quickly added: "But this is bad, of course." She cleared her throat and stared at the screen. "Whose workshop are they breaking into?"

Her older sister lost the doubtful expression she was wearing and answered:

   "That office belongs to Jayce Talis, unquestionably, since we noticed the activity near it. Our interest towards the other scientists and students is limited, perhaps too lacking..."

Dee abruptly cut her:

   "What if they break something?!"

   "They might, however they're carrying a big ol' bag." Jee's nail bore chipped black nail polish, and ticked energetically against the glass when she pointed at it. "They are there to steal."

   "Unless they have hammers in there, or a bomb..." reciprocated her quadruplet, tucking away a strand of her wavy brown hair with an unusually thoughtful expression inside her large hazel eyes.

Mee punched a few commands in and one of the images zoomed in until it followed exclusively the intruders' bag. Amongst the flow of information streaming down the side of the picture in bright pink letters, she noticed the word "empty", which confirmed the redhead's theory. Her sister whirled around, apparently having seen it too. Her green eyes landed on the youngest of the five.

   "You should head over there immediately and at least find out what they took, if you can't retrieve it."

   "Me?"