#arcance

“Jayce”

“Yeah Vitya?” Jayce answers while keeping his eyes down the project he’s currently tinkering on.

“Correct me if I am wrong but that glowing portal is not one of ours, is it?”

“What are y-” He stops mid sentence as his eyes follow where his partners are currently fixed on. A blue hue starts to fill the room as items all around them start to lift a little off the ground. Jayce himself starts to float out of his chair. He looks over at Viktor who wears a nervous and slightly curious furrow to his brow. Just as he is about to open his mouth a low buzz begins to emanate from the portal. Jayce and Viktor look at each other, more nervous than before as the buzzing grows louder into a full scream. The blue glow seems to burn brighter as both the men turn their heads and cover their eyes. Just as the portal seemed to border on all consuming to the senses, it stopped.

It took a second to adjust their eyes back to the slightly darkened room in the evening sun. But no screaming and blue light seemed like a win. Once their eyes finally adjusted, they looked at where the portal once was and now stood nothing. Jayce was the first to break the silence.

“What do you think that was?”

“I have not a single clue”

“𝝸𝝺𝝠 𝞔𝝺𝜓 𝝇𝞒𝝃𝝥 𝜩𝞀𝜓 𝞾𝝠𝞒 𝜩𝞖𝛴 𝝸𝝺𝜓𝞀𝜓 𝜩𝞀𝜓 𝝇𝞒𝝃𝝥 𝜩𝟇 𝛃!”

In their determined focus on where the portal used to be, the two men failed to notice the young woman standing on the other side of the room. The woman took deep heaving breaths, holding a screwdriver that once laid on Viktor’s work table, arms holding it straight out despite small trembles that seemed to go through her entire body. Her eyes focused on Jayce and Viktor, trying to hold onto an air of intimidation, but behind that thin layer, was a papitable sense of fear.

She spoke again, her voice quieter than the previous time but with a sharper edge.“𝝸𝝺𝝠 𝜩𝞀𝜓 𝞾𝝠𝞒 𝜩𝞖𝛴 𝝸𝝺𝜓𝞀𝜓 𝜩𝟇 𝛃?”

“Woah, put down the screwdriver. We aren’t gonna hurt you” Jayce slowly moved towards the woman with his hands in the air. As Jayce progressed forward, the woman pointed the screwdriver towards Jayce but only moved backwards, her body curling into itself as if to make herself smaller and less vulnerable. Her ripped clothes, lack of shoewear and trembling only made her look like a cornered bunny.

“Jayce wait a minute” Jayce stopped moving towards the woman as Viktor moved to grab the blanket that resided in the lab, one used during many late nights, where the men couldn’t find the energy to walk home. He walked closer, blanket in one hand, his cane in the other, which reminded him to keep a steady slow pace to prevent the woman from bolting. As he moved closer to the woman he raised his hand holding the blanket for the woman to take. She looked at him with apprehension before slightly lowering the arm holding the screwdriver and snatching the blanket from him. Jayce and Vitkor both took a couple steps back, enough space so the woman wouldn't feel trapped, as she wrapped the blanket around herself. She still held the screwdriver tightly but no longer at arms length, now instead by her side.

“𝝸𝝺𝜩𝞔 𝛃𝞏 𝝺𝜩𝝮𝝮𝜓𝞖𝛃𝞖𝝋?” she spoke again in a soft voice this time, nervous but no longer shaking with the same fear she once was.

Viktor and Jayce looked at each other.

“I don’t think she speaks Piltovian” Jayce was the first to speak

They looked back at the woman who seemed to be coming to the same realization as the two men.

“𝞾𝝠𝞒 𝛴𝝠𝞖’𝞔 𝞏𝝮𝜓𝜩𝝥 𝜓𝞖𝝋𝟄𝛃𝞏𝝺? Parlez-vous Français? 한국어?”

She seemed to be rattling off a list, looking for the correct answer on the two men’s faces, becoming more frantic every time there was no reaction from the two. They realised that she was speaking different languages. She even started moving her hands in a way that looked like something beyond just gestures and more like an organized sequence of meanings. Jayce and Viktor felt like they were back to their teenage years and just received a test they didn’t study for. Every answer, their silence, was a wrong answer, but the disappointment and desperation on the women’s face was worse than any bad mark the two could’ve ever received. Once she seemed to be done the list she yelled out “𝝇𝞒𝝃𝝥!!!” and sank to the floor.

“𝛃 𝝥𝞖𝝠𝝸 8 𝟄𝜩𝞖𝝋𝜩𝜓𝞏 𝜩𝞖𝛴 𝞖𝝠𝞖𝜓 𝝠𝝇 𝞔𝝺𝜓𝟇 𝜩𝜓𝞀 𝞒𝞏𝜓𝝇𝞒𝟄 𝞔𝝠 𝟇𝜓 𝞖𝝠𝝸” She mumbled under breath.

A moment later, Viktor moved to the floor and sat beside the woman, she lifted her head to him, eyes red with tears starting to form in the corners. Viktor’s preferred method of comforting others was not by touching them. He preferred to speak to them and soothe them that way, however given that he seemed to be unable to communicate verbally to the woman in a way she would understand, he decided to take a page out of Jayce’s book. He wrapped a hesitant arm around her shoulder, nervous she might be upset by his gesture, but she accepted it and leaned her head against his shoulder as she took deep calming breaths.

She lifted her head, calmer now as she spoke. “𝞔𝝺𝜩𝞖𝝥 𝞾𝝠𝞒” she bowed her head slightly to Viktor.

He seemed to understand she was thanking him then.

In the midst of all this Jayce, took the opportunity to grab a glass of water and snacks he kept in his desk for times he was hungry but couldn’t break away from his work. He moved closer to the pair on the floor, heart breaking at the lost look on the woman’s face. He offered the woman the glass of water and snacks, which she looked at cautiously, almost like she thought it was poisoned. In response, Jayce took a sip of the water and took one of the crackers into his mouth before putting them on the floor in front of her and giving a big thumbs up. She let out a small giggle at seeing his goofy display. Both men softened at her reaction. As she ate and drank a bit, the two men seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes.

When you work together as much as they do, your brain starts to be in sync with the other. They contemplated their next steps. If they alerted anyone else about her it was likely that she’d be locked up somewhere given that she couldn’t communicate where she’d come from and she’d most likely be seen as a threat given that she came through a portal. The two men could tell from their short time with her that she wasn’t a threat, merely a frightened and lost woman, not where she should be. However others might not see it that way. They decided that they would take her in until they could get across the language barrier or keep her safe.

Before they could continue their “discussion” any further, the woman cleared her throat and pointed at herself.

“𝝣𝜩𝟇𝜓𝞏” she said, both men wore a furrowed brow. She repeated herself “𝝣𝜩𝟇𝜓𝞏”

Realization came to the two men that she was saying her name.

Jayce repeated after her “Jaybs?”

“𝞖𝝠,𝞖𝝠𝞔 𝞈𝞒𝛃𝞔𝜓” She laughed softly “𝝣𝜩𝟇𝜓𝞏”

“James?” He repeated again

“𝞾𝜓𝞏!” She exclaimed.

“Your name is James” Viktor tried as well, leading to a big grin making its way onto her face.

“𝟇𝞾 𝞖𝜩𝟇𝜓 𝛃𝞏 𝝣𝜩𝟇𝜓𝞏”

She then pointed her finger at Viktor with a questioning expression on her face. “𝝸𝝺𝜩𝞔 𝛃𝞏 𝞾𝝠𝞒𝞀 𝞖𝜩𝟇𝜓?”

“My name is Viktor”

“Name is 𝞃ik𝞔or?”

“Viktor”

“Viktor”

Satisfied with her pronunciation, she turned to Jayce and asked the same thing

“Jayce”

“Ja𝞾ce𝞒”

“Jayce” he repeated again

“Jayce”

The boys seemed stuck on what to do next, thankfully James seemed to have more of an idea of what to do next. She stood abruptly, dashing over to Viktor’s desk, searching for something. She wasn’t calm but she was kind enough to not displace any of the objects on his desk in her search. She slowed when she found a pen but didn’t stop. Viktor walked over sensing what she was looking for next. He pressed a small hidden button on his cane which revealed a small hidden compartment. He reached in and held a small key in between his fingers. He placed the key in the lock on the bottom draw. As he pulled the drawer open Jayce’s eyes widened.

“You’ve been hiding new notebooks in here the whole time!”

Viktor reached for the notebook at the top of the pile and gently passed it to James. Viktor looked a little sheepish.

“You go through 5 notebooks a week, if I had let you into my stash it would not be a stash for long and I would being going out to get new notebook books every week like you”

“Jayce, Viktor” a firm voice spoke out beside them. While the two were going back and forth, James had drawn out a picture in the notebook. She presented it to the two.

“A library…?” Viktor looked up at her, “Why would you want to go there?”

“Library” James repeated after him. She then tapped her notebook and passed Viktor the pen. Confused on what to do next, she rolled her eyes and gestured for him to write on the page. He obliged.

“We can’t take her there now, the library is closed” Jayce looked out at mid summer darkening sky. “Even if it was open, she’s too noticeable with what she’s wearing”

At that moment James seemed to become aware that her less than put together appearance might draw some attention.

Jayce sighed before speaking “We’ll take her back to our house, I’ll go tomorrow morning to see if Caitlyn has any clothes that she can borrow, and then we’ll take her to the library”

James’ face lit up at hearing the word library. “Library 𝞔𝝠𝛴𝜩𝞾?”

Viktor began drawing their plan. He drew a stick figure in a house under the moon and another drawing of the sun out and them at the library.

Realisation made its way onto her face followed by a smile. “𝜩𝝺𝝺𝝺 Library 𝞔𝝠𝟇𝝠𝞀𝞀𝝠𝝸!”

Jayce grabbed the blanket dropped in James’ search for stationary and placed it on her shoulders.

“𝞔𝝺𝜩𝞖𝝥 𝞾𝝠𝞒” She said softly.

He felt a slight blush crawl up his neck as he turned around and finished packing his bag.

While James and Viktor stood waiting for Jayce, she passed him her notebook and pen once more and pointed to the first picture he drew.

“𝝸𝝺𝜩𝞔?” She asked

“What is it?”

She nodded

“House”

“h𝝠us𝜓”

“House”

“House

He wrote the word down underneath, as she then did the same but in her language.

Just as she finished writing, Jayce walked up beside them. They proceeded to walk home under the cover of night.

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