The Boy Saviour

Chapter 6

I felt like I was suffocating, as I realised I had a mask on my face, and was being carried, into what seemed like a different room. After being placed onto the floor, the mask was taken off my face, to find a young boy staring at me coldly from across the room. "Where am I?" "And who are you?" I asked, as he slowly got up. "I ask the questions around here" he ordered, as I kept my mouth shut. "What are you doing with Vi, and the piltie? My guess is you're just an extra", the boy said, as he looked at me. "Vi and the piltie that you're referring to, Caitlyn, are my friends. If Caitlyn's a piltie, then I guess I'm a piltie too!" I retorted back at him, but he wasn't paying attention and was looking at my engraved necklace. "Where did you get that?" he asked me. "I don't know, I was found with it on many years ago" I answered him, as his hard expression started to soften, and took a small step back. "S-Semona?" he asked me. "How do you know my name?" asking the boy, who was now holding back his tears. "It's me....Ekko" he replied. At the moment, I couldn't believe Ekko was standing right in front of me. It didn't seem real. I slowly walked up to him, placed my hand on his chest, and embraced him. A stream of tears fell from my face. "I can't believe you're actually standing here in front of me! I thought you were dead!" Ekko exclaimed. "Well, I'm definitely not dead. To be honest, I thought you were dead! I can't believe it's you!" I replied. 

All of a sudden, a sharp pain filled my stomach, as I forgot that Jinx had shot me, and kneeled to the ground. "Here, let me help you!" Ekko ran to my side and helped me up, as I noticed there was a bandage sealed to my wound "Wait, did you put this on me?" I asked, giving him a side eye. "I did" he replied, smiling back at me. "Come on, there's something I want to show you, but you got to close your eyes first" Ekko replied, as I side-eyed him again. "I am too exhausted to be playing games!" "Just trust me" he reassured, as I took a big sigh and closed my eyes, as he led me out the door. My eyelids were filled with a sharp light as Ekko instructed me to open my eyes. The rays from the sun touched my skin as a big massive tree presented itself before me, with the sounds of children's laughter filling the clear air. "Wow! This is....beautiful!" I asked him. "Pretty cool, huh. When I first saw it, I knew this was the place. If a single seed could make it down here, so could we" Ekko replied. "I can't believe you built all of this!" I exclaimed. "Well I didn't do it alone. After Vander....died, Silco flooded the lanes with Shimmer. He didn't care what it did to people. Everyone here was an addict or a victim. The day of the explosion, there were times I drove myself crazy, wishing I could go back in time and save everyone, and when I saw you lying there, I blamed myself a lot" Ekko said, as I took his hand in mine. "You don't have to worry about that now" I reassured him, as he gave my hand a small squeeze. "There's something else I want to show you too" Ekko replied, as he guided me to another side of the hideout. 

A wall was filled with a colourful mural of people, some of them I recognised, including a younger version of me. Sighing to himself, Ekko continued, "This is everyone we've lost. The price of our freedom. Some of it was Enforcers. Most of it was Slico". I looked up at the mural, feeling angry and sad at the same time. "I'm sorry about Powder..I mean Jinx. I know you two were close friends". I said, placing my hand on his arm. "Yeah" was all he managed to say. "Sooo...what have you been up to all this time?" he asked me, perking up a little. "Well, after the incident, I was stuck in the infirmary unit for some time as I recovered. After that, I've  just been helping my sister with the council duties, along with helping Caitlyn out too". I answered, as he looked at Caitlyn talking to Vi. He thought for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. "And you trust her?" Ekko asked me. "She's my best friend. I trust her with my life". Before I could continue, Caitlyn and Vi came towards us. "Ekko, this place is beautiful" Caitlyn exclaimed, in which judging by Ekko's face and posture, he didn't approve. "If your people had your way, it'd be rubble and ash" he replied. "It's a misunderstanding. They think you work for Silco". I looked at Ekko, knowing very well he wasn't going to like what Caitlyn had to say, as he stormed up to her. "Your people hunt us, like animals. Silco pays them to do it!" "That's not possible. You're wrong." Caitlyn answered, as Ekko took a big sigh. "Say that one more time!" he threatened, as I pulled him away while Vi stood between them. "Caitlyn? Probably not the best thing to say and Ekko, she believes what she's saying, okay? She's not the enemy here" I said, as he scoffed and rolled his eyes, not believing me at all. "Oh yeah? Then what's this?" he asked, as he took a blue gem from his device. "I feel like this looks very familiar" I replied. "You have let me to take that back" Caitlyn responded, as Ekko gave her a cold look. "What is it?" Vi asked Caitlyn. "It's a Gemstone. It was stolen during the attack..by your sister" Caitlyn answered, Vi looking at her in disbelief. "You just... forgot to mention that?! "With this, someone with the right knowledge could build..any Hextech device. If enforcers are becoming more...aggressive, that's why" she continued. "We could beat Silco with this" Ekko confidently replied. "Um, I don't think that would solve things." I replied, as Ekko looked at me, clearly annoyed and frustrated. "Well that's easy for you to say. Your people aren't dying all around you!" he retaliated, a bit hurt by his response. "Ekko, it's wrong what's been done to you. You'd be well within your rights to keep it. I couldn't blame you. But...if you do, this cycle of violence will never stop. This is our best shot at setting the record straight. This city needs healing...more than I ever realised. Please, let me help you". Caitlyn reassured him. Ekko thought for a moment before asking, "You got a plan?" "I have a friend on the council. Let me take the Gemstone to him. He'll listen to me. Your people won't have to hide anymore" she continued. Ekko made up his mind and said, "One condition. I'm the one who gives it to them" "That's fair enough" Caitlyn also agreed. "We'll head out later" Ekko replied, as both Caitlyn and Vi scouted the remaining area of the Firelight Hideout

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. I'm just tired" Ekko apologised, hoping I would forgive him. "It's no big deal. I understand this has been a lot for you. I just wish I was there to help you with some of it." I responded, as Ekko took my hand and looked into my hazel brown eyes. "You're here now, and that's what matters most to me. Come on, let me introduce to some of the others". Our first introduction stop was a Chirean by the name of Scar, followed by Crystal, Ajuna, and many more of the other kids. It was so nice to see the children of Zaun running around in a space where they could be free and safe from the hands of Silco and his goons.