Chapter Text
Ekko woke up with a start and took a moment to catch his breath. Was confronting Talis about the Firelight Tree’s leaves changing and then encountering that wild rune all just a strange dream? He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down. What a weird dream. He must be more anxious about confronting Talis with Heimer than he thought-.
His head jerked up when he felt something soft on his arm. A probably handmade spider stuffed animal tied to a stick bounced up and down on his arm before trying to land on his head. A single young giggle filled the room when he tried to swat the spider away. The toy disappeared with some scurrying sounds. What the actual hell?
Ekko went to ask who was messing with him so early until he actually looked around the room. His words died in his throat. This wasn’t his room! This wasn’t his bed. He wildly looked around for a light and quickly turned on the bedside lamp.
Where was he-? A painting of his kid self and Benzo stole his breath away. Unfamiliar photos were all over the place. Him with Powder, Vi, Mylo, and Claggor. Several photos of him and Benzo. Him and Heimer in disc runners years before he met the yordle. His mouth open and shut when he saw a younger version of him and Jayce Talis. What the fuck?
And why was the calendar wrong? It was 989, not 990!
Who was the brown-haired man with amber eyes in over half the photos? Mystery man and a very young Ekko right around the age when Benzo took them in. Him and the man with Powder. Him and the man with Vi. The man kissing his head while his younger self happily showed off a paper to the camera. Him, the man, and a woman that looked vaguely familiar. He noticed more pictures with Jayce in them. Why was he dressed like a Topsider in-? Was that him graduating from the Academy?
“Who is there?” he demanded when a sound reminded him that he was not alone.
“Nobody here but the spiders under your bed!” a very young voice replied with more giggles. Ekko barely held back his scream when something moved from under the covers. A poro popped out and licked his face with a happy yip. It jumped off his bed and went to investigate the voice.
“Pow-Pow, Edi is hiding, so Edi and Fuzzy can scare him!” what was definitely a little kid whispered. He was pretty confident that was a little girl. It sounded like she was shushing the poro.
…the poro named Pow-Pow.
“There better not be any Edis under my bed,” Ekko tried, playing along for now. It was just a kid, after all. Maybe she could tell him what was going on. He made as much noise as possible as he got off what he realized had to be a very expensive bed.
“Uh oh, Fuzzy! Run!” A little girl with wild, black curls took off and headed to…the wall? Ekko rubbed his eyes in disbelief when a secret passage opened for Edi. The secret door shut before he could catch up. He made a dash for the actual door.
Panic surged when he realized the door was locked up until he realized it was locked on his side. He could unlock it. Okay, okay, he woke up in a room locked on the inside that told a story of a very different life. He should open up the window and see where he was.
Ekko made his way to the massive windows covered in curtains that were his exact favorite shade of green. What if the wild rune they found sent him somewhere else? His eyes flicked to the calendar mocking him with the date. If it weren’t for all the photos of his younger self, he would have guessed he was somehow thrown into the future, but that photo on the nightstand was definitely of him freshly orphaned and just taken in by Benzo.
Cameras were incredibly rare in the Undercity even now, let alone thirteen (fourteen?) years ago. How did that photo even exist?
No, he needed to focus and figure out what happened. He needed to see where he was. Ekko threw open the curtains and stared.
Piltover stared back at him. Not just Piltover, but the wealthiest part of Piltover he usually avoided to not find trouble. He could just make out unfamiliar uniforms guarding the area. What should he do? Should he try to escape? Play along? Were Heimer and Talis here, too? How could he even try and find them though?
His panicked planning was interrupted by an urgent knock on his door. “Sissy told me you were awake!” another girl called out from the other side. “Can I come in? Pretty please with screwdrivers on top?”
…with screwdrivers on top? Well, he already knew there was at least one secret entrance, and this kid at least was knocking instead of sneaking in like Edi. The poro yipped at his heels as he made his way to the door. With quite a bit of reluctance, Ekko unlocked the door.
Another girl who definitely looked related to Edi grinned up at him. He just barely kept his face under control when he realized she had Jayce’s eyes. Was this Jayce’s kid somehow? Was he at Jayce’s house?
Jayce Talis was the most famous man in Piltover. Ekko would definitely know if he had a daughter or two. If these were Jayce’s daughters, then he definitely wasn’t just a year in the future.
“Good morning, Uncle Ekko!” the girl happily greeted and hugged him around the waist. Uncle Ekko?!
“Good morning,” was all he managed to get out.
The girl pushed right past him and picked up the poro. “Did Edi sneak into your room again? Mama keeps telling her that she needs to re’pect locked doors. Sneaky, sneaky Edi. This is why Grandma calls her a spider and not a kit like me. Foxes are better than spiders. They’re cute and fluffy and aren’t known for biting people. Do you think Edi is ever going to outgrow biting? She tried biting me this morning! I already told Mama though!” the girl babbled. She finally stopped when she needed to breathe.
His mind hung on her having a tata. He was pretty sure that was an Old Zaunite word for like dad, but he wasn’t fluent in what should have been his first language. Just another thing stolen from him by the Pilties.
The girl put down the poro and held up her arms pointedly. Ekko didn’t know what else to do but pick her up. Making up his mind, he headed back towards the window. Maybe he could get confirmation they were in Piltover from the kid.
Ekko stopped and stared yet again when he glimpsed his mirror reflection. What the hell?! His hair was braided instead of his usual twists, and his ears were pierced. He looked more… nourished and less muscled. He looked soft.
“I know, Uncle Ekko! Your braids are messy, messy, messy. Mama needs to fix your hair for you,” the girl agreed and gently picked up a braid.
Before Ekko could muster up a response, the girl continued, “Are you going to the Firelights today? Can I come with you? I think Princess Wizard Knight Cecilia would be lots of help when you go and fix their stuff.” She paused and let out a dramatic gasp. “Are you building them anything new? Um, I didn’t look at your lab table and, um, didn’t look at the new hoverboards you were making. Can I go help you build hoverboards for the Firelights? Please, Uncle Ekko? Pretty please? I would be super duper careful if you let me test one! My parents don’t need to know!”
“How old do you need to be to ride a hoverboard?” Ekko tried.
The girl he assumed was named Cecilia pouted up at him. “Ten,” was the very grumpy answer.
“And how old are you?”
“Five. I’m almost five and a half though! That’s more than halfway to ten! I’m closer to ten than I am to, uh, being a baby! Didn’t Tata teach you about rounding up when he was teaching you stuff growing up?”
A new voice with a distinctly Zaunite accent dryly interjected, “You could perhaps make the argument you could round up your age to six, Cece, but ten would be improper rounding. Has Grandpa taught you about that yet?”
“A little,” Cecilia admitted with a grumble.
“No flying hoverboards until you are at least ten. Papa has an investor meeting soon. I do hope his favorite secretary will be ready to leave with him.”
“Put me down, please, Uncle Ekko. I need to eat breakfast and brush my teeth and pack my bag! And Mama needs to help me with my bow! Tata, my bow!”
“You better get a move on then, sweetheart.”
“Uncle Ekko, put me down now, please. Uncle Ekko?”
Ekko stopped staring at the man from the photos and put Cecilia down. “Sorry, Cece, still working on waking up,” he lied.
“Uh oh! I think Edi woke him up again, Tata. I gotta go! Bye, Tata! Bye, Uncle Ekko! Don’t do anything fun in the lab without me! Mama! Mama! Where are you, Mama? I need help with my bow!”
“Oh, that girl,” the man muttered with a fond eyeroll and gentle smile. Ekko nearly had a heart attack when he was pulled into a forehead press. It was just long enough to signify they were close family. “Good morning, little brother.”
Brother? Brother?! He had a brother?!
~~~
Ekko slowly moaned and realized he was not in bed. What the hell? The last thing he remembered was locking the door and hoping Edna would actually let him sleep in for once. He was expecting to wake up to either his niece or one of her toys in his face. Not to wake up on the floor.
Why was it so cold in here? He blearily opened his eyes and froze. This was not his bedroom. He sat up. Why was he inside the Hex Tower?
Porofessor jumped on him and demanded pets. “Hey, Porofessor. What are we doing down here?”
“Oh, good, you’re awake. I am uncertain what we are doing here, but we need to leave,” Heimer greeted and warily stared at something behind Ekko’s back. The Diamond’s Heir slowly turned around.
What the fuck was that?
The young man scooped up his mentor and the poro. They needed to get out of here and find his brother. Viktor needed to know about this immediately.