hex |jinx [on hold]

i.

hex | chapter one
unedited

Nova, aged five

"Mommy, mommy! Look at me!"

A shriek was heard right after those words, followed by a little girl's cheerful giggle that echoed around the crowded streets of Zaun.

Hair as red blood flew in the air around a child's head as she joyfully jumped around a shining circular bar sign. The sign was familiar to the little girl -and familiar to everyone who knew Vander, the owner of 'The Last Drop'. The smile worn by the girl was brighter than Piltover's blazing sun and it burned the eyes of her spectators.

Yes, spectators. The commotion caused by her mother's yell was enough to bring at least ten people out of their dark hiding spots to watch a child falling from a building. They secretly wanted to save her from a disaster waiting to happen but a side of them wanted to see where it would go. As if, by a miracle, she would be saved by a secret guardian angel.

As if Nova needed to be saved. That's what the little girl thought as she balanced her weight on the wobbly surface. Looking down just a peek, she saw that the ground wasn't that far away. A few scratches would be the outcome of her predicament.

As more and more people stopped by to watch a pleading mother begging her reckless child to descend from a dangerous height, Nova felt their eyes on her and started to her more and more nervous, something she hadn't felt since escaping the meeting her parents were having inside the bar with her godfather and fellow 'friends' -at least that's what she liked to call them, as their faces and rusty weapons were all but friendly.

It was known that Nova was an Undercity favourite. Every single Undercity creature and inhabitant -human or not- was aware of the girl's constant smile and charming personality. They were also aware of her family's reputation: protectors of their city, their streets, and, above all, each other. That was why Nova was protected by everyone who crossed her path in the dark streets, despite the fact she barely walked through those alone.

Her parents were extremely protective of her, an exaggeration if anyone asked the five-year-old her opinion about her parents' constant worrying for her safety. It wasn't like she was going to throw herself in front of a moving cart or try to enter Piltover's guarded streets without getting caught. Their overprotective ways always resulted in Nova bending the rules.

When her mother had told her not to do anything reckless during their meeting -basically ordering her to sit still and look pretty- Nova's eyes shone with pure mischief.

If she couldn't have fun in the little time her parents didn't spend training her to be a complete war machine, she would bring fun to the bar.

How?

Using its dirty and slightly destroyed sign as a personal balancing toy.

"Get your ass back down, Nova!" Her mother stood to her right with hands on her hips and a scowl permanently scarred on her beautiful features. "I swear to the deepest rivers if you fall-"