Mechanical heart (Viktor x OC)

26

Elvira looked towards Piltover, which was getting closer and closer each hour. After the spirit walk, Elvira had felt a strong feeling that she needed to go home, even though she hadn't heard from either Viktor or Jayce. But she had been away for well over a year, and she didn't have the patience to wait any longer. She had said goodbye to the flower vastaya, and they had given her a charm to keep her safe for as long as possible after her departure. 

She knew that the second she left Ionia, and the magic was gone, her body would deteriorate again, and she would be worse off than when she arrived. During her stay in Ionia, the magic had kept her body stable, and it had covered up the symptoms of her heart problems, but it hadn't healed it. 

For that reason, her father insisted on accompanying her back home, to make sure she would be ok, and to be by her side if she should succumb to her illness. 

Saying goodbye to Akali was hard, but they both promised to do their best at staying alive and to do good for the world. Akali had helped Elvira through so much during her time in Ionia, and she would be forever grateful to her. They promised to write to each other, and Akali had given her a piece of turquoise cloth as a parting gift. "Please use this to make something to wear. When you get better, I want this to signal your rebirth," Akali had said when she had given it to Elvira, and she already had an idea in her mind of what to make of it. 

"How are you feeling?" her father asked from the table he was seated at, causing Elvira to look away from Piltover for the first time since the city made itself visible. "I'm feeling dizzy, but I think that is because of the waves," she said as she sat down at the table with her father.

There were cards neatly laid out on the table, letting Elvira know he had been playing solitaire. "You're playing solitaire?" Elvira chuckled at her father, who shook his head in response. "I'm getting old, might as well do old people stuff." 

Elvira leaned her head onto the table, feeling the dizziness take over her vision and making her head hurt a little. "You don't look too good, do you need me to get you anything?" Xander asked as he placed his hand on Elvira's forehead, checking her temperature, which was normal. 

"It's just the dizziness. But could you fetch me some water?" she asked him, hoping he would leave as soon as possible. He nodded before standing up, and as soon as he was out of sight, Elvira let out the worst cough she had ever heard, followed by a splatter of blood in her hand. 

She had coughed up a lot of blood during the past week, but she had been able to hide most of it from her father, not wanting to worry him too much. She had been wearing a lot of dark red clothes during her travel, so she could wipe her hands on her pants and hide the bloodstains, but her pasts were filthy at this point, and she couldn't wait to be able to peel the crusty bloodstained pants of her body and wash them. 

The charm had worn off after a week at sea, which let Elvira know just how bad she really was. The fact that her body had sucked the amulet dry that quick, meant that her body would have decayed even more by now if she didn't have it. 

She was good at hiding her pain, and her father didn't know how bad she really was. He had seen the blood stains on her hands a few times, but he was oblivious to the fact that her pants were covered. She didn't even know herself which part of the pants was actually red dye, or blood.

"I am going to go see Jayce when we get home, to let him know that you're back so that he won't be too shocked when he sees you," her father broke the silence. "You are? I suppose that would be smart."

"I have to ask you a favor though, and I beg you to please follow my one rule," he started, causing Elvira to give him a suspicious look. "Go on," she urged, wanting to know what was so important to him that he would set a rule. 

"The toxic fumes in Zaun will kill you. I only ask that you don't go there until your heart is fixed. Can you do that for me?" he looked at Elvira with pleading eyes. He usually let her do whatever she wanted, as he trusted her judgment. But this was life or death, and he had already lost the love of his life, he couldn't lose his daughter too. 

Elvira looked back over at Piltover, before nodding at her father. "I will."

A few hours later, Viktor was in the lab filling out some papers with Jayce. Viktor kept twirling his pen between his fingers while looking at the paper in front of him. He and Jayce had been sitting there for two hours trying to fill out the necessary paperwork regarding the hexgate, which would soon be finished and ready to use. 

Jayce had almost finished his entire stack of papers, but Viktor couldn't concentrate. The more time he sat here and filled out stupid papers about stupid hextech, the less time he could use to work on ways to save Elvira. And Jayce knew how frustrated Viktor was with this whole situation, and he tried his best to calm him down. 

Viktor started tapping the pen against the desk, more and more violently each time. "Viktor," Jayce tried, but his friend wasn't listening. He was too lost in his own mind, probably going over each and every possible outcome of the whole situation with Elvira, and running his brain ragged with ways to help her. 

"Viktor," Jayce tried again, but still with no response. Jayce stood up, getting ready to walk over to his partner to shake him out of it, but they both looked up when they heard the door open. "Mr. Talis, your uncle sent for you. He's at your mother's house," Sky said as she timidly walked into the lab, carrying her trusted notebook with her. 

"Why? What is he doing here?" Jayce asked, panic in his voice. Is Elvira dead? was the first thought that came to him. Even Viktor looked up from his paper, looking at Sky desperate for an explanation. "I don't know, I was told by professor Heimerdinger to let you know," she said as she stepped aside, allowing Jayce to walk past her and leave the lab.

Viktor felt a lump form in his stomach, and he suddenly struggled to breathe a little. "What are you working on?" Sky asked as she walked over to where Viktor was sitting. He gave a quick answer to her question before he stood up and walked over to the window of the lab, needing some fresh air before he choked. 

"Are you excited for the hexgate to be tested?" she followed him over to the window, causing him to let out an annoyed sigh. He didn't mind Sky's presence in their lab from time to time, but now was really not the time for small talk. Viktor was losing his mind thinking about what could have happened for Xander to come here alone all of a sudden. Unless Elvira had traveled with him, but neither Viktor nor Jayce had sent for her, and she couldn't possibly be stupid enough to come back home, before they had found a way to help her, as she was fully aware that if she did, she would die. 

"Sky, I am not in the mood for small talk right now, I have a lot on my mind," Viktor excused himself, trying to get her to leave without being rude. "Oh," Sky took a step back, surprised at Viktor's sudden harsh tone. "I'm sorry, I won't bother you. I will come back later to collect the papers that you and Jayce have filled out," she bowed her head slightly before quickly making her way out, leaving Viktor alone with his thoughts. His very scary thoughts. 

She's probably dead, and Xander has come to bring the bad news and to hold a burial ceremony or something. His and Jayce's theory that the Ionian magic would slow or stop the heart from weakening more was wrong, and now she's gone. "Fuck," Viktor cursed, banging his fist against the window frame, causing the glass pane to vibrate slightly. 

No, there could be other reasons he was here as if to assist Jayce and me in finding a way to help her, yes. That must be it, she's too strong and stubborn to just die like that, he concluded, but was yet again interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by the soft creaking of the door opening. 

"I said I don't want to be disturbed," Viktor raised his voice in annoyance, as he turned around to face who he assumed would be Sky coming back to bother him. But someone else met his gaze. Elvira was standing in the doorway, looking frail and weak, yet she smiled at him in such a warm way that made him tear up with relief.

"Hi Viktor."