The Boy Savior - Ekko x Reader - Season 1

Chapter 2

"Almost every single one of us here has lost someone because of Silco." The boy by your side said and you saw the angered pain shadow his face for the shortest second. But then, when he looked at you again, his facial expressions were different.

Of course, the pain had left a permanent trace among his features, but his past self, which was probably much lighter and happier, was still there somewhere, you could see that. Maybe in the way his eyes shone, maybe the way he held his shoulders, you weren't sure, you just knew that he somehow managed to preserve himself despite all his possible miseries and you envied that...

You wondered what things had happened to him that made him such a strong person at such a young age.

"You're not alone here you, know." He added as he watched you searching his face. You had been fighting your own battle inside your head for long minutes now and this little sentence was the one that finally got to you.

You looked away from him, back to the same old crack on the wall whose lines were now starting to burn into your retinas, but this time you didn't stay silent. You just couldn't look into his - or anyone's - eyes while talking about your misery...

"I'm sure you've heard about that one, exploded shimmer factory in the lowest lanes." You said.

"Yeah, I've seen... the lights." you heard his response, but since the explosions were so huge, that everyone got to see the purple fireworks on the non-existent sky of Zaun, you weren't struck. It would have been much more surprising if he wouldn't have known about it.

You were sure that a few people had probably even thought about the poor workers there - most of them just children -, but people in Zaun just clapped their hands at the sight you were sure about that. Empathy among the lanes was about as rare as a white crow...

"My whole family had to work there. They didn't really have much options, you know. You either work in a shimmer factory or, by some godly miracle, you can leave this place behind and look for a new life somewhere else if you don't want to end up in some even shadier underworld business." You said but left out the part that it was only because of you. Because they wanted to hide you down there... "Both my dad and brother - and many others - tried to warn the higher-ups about the broken heating pipe for weeks." You remembered how your brother told you about his worries. Of course, your parents would have kept everything a secret from you, but your brother usually told you everything. You were close... You still couldn't quite understand that you would never have any more conversations in the corner of your rooms where he shared his worries and secrets and you shared yours with him...

"The whole accident could have been prevented... And maybe, if I - if I were with them, I could have helped them..." you swallowed and angrily wiped down a tear that had managed to escape your quickly blinking eyes.

Everything always happened because your parents tried to overprotect you... The more you thought about it, the surer you became that everything was because of you after all... And that was the reason why you needed to take your revenge on Silco - either that or you'd go mad soon.

"Or you would have just died with them." The boy next to you spoke and you closed your eyes because even that would have been better than the way things ended up. "I've seen a lot of people blaming themselves for staying alive, believing that if they did that, said this, or would've been there, everything would have turned out different." He went on, and you looked at him from the corner of your eyes. At that moment you felt like he was reading your mind. "But the truth is that one can only go crazy thinking like this. Trust me, I've seen many examples..." he smiled bitterly. "Down here everyone sets forth with a disadvantage, that's true, but Silco and his shimmer have been the main cause for the worst things happening. The second reason is Piltover's enforcers, but it is usually not us." he smiled at you lightly when he finished.

"I want to kill him!" You said quickly as you turned your whole body towards the boy sitting next to you. "Please, let me join your - "you weren't sure what they were exactly. "...your group. Please..."

"Why were you at the warehouse?" He asked again and you suddenly felt your cheeks burn up as you thought about your plan. Thinking back now, it was the stupidest plan ever... But you understood that before taking you in, you had to a give reason for why you were so upset that they destroyed Silco's drug.
"I know that a bigger dose of shimmer can make you stronger than a simple human..." you looked away now as your shoulders collapsed under the embarrassing weight of your confession. "I thought that if I could steal enough, then maybe I would have had a chance to get to Silco and end him with my own hands..." you said.

You wanted to add that you knew how stupid it sounded and that you were desperate and blinded by your rage and sorrow, but your mouth couldn't open to press out any more words. You would be just extenuating yourself and your dumbness anyway...

"Well, at the firelights we always welcome those who want to fight for a brighter future - or would just need a shelter." The boy said as he stood up, dusting his pants and coat and as you jerked your head up to look at him, not believing your own ears, you saw how he reached a hand towards you.

For a second you just stared at him. Doubt rushed your mind. What if it was better for you on your own? Your family had you among themselves and look what happened to them... But then your gaze left his fingers to meet his brown eyes and you could see how he honestly anticipated you accepting his hands.

And in the end -

You did...

"My name's Ekko." He said as he pulled you up by your arm. "Welcome to the Firelights..."