Arcane: Decaying Love.

Although it wasn't raining, the small child felt entirely wet. His tears flowed incessantly, like a shattered dam, and despair surged within him like a relentless tide. 

In his tiny arms, the soft breathing and warm touch of the family dog against his trembling hands were the only things grounding him at this moment and offering the faintest sense of comfort.

"No... I can't take it anymore," he sobbed softly, voice barely audible. He was in a void too deep to escape. Wanting to release it all...to scream, cry, even destroy, but had nowhere to direct it.

"Mon… I… I can't… Everyone… Everyone…" His fingers clawed at his scalp, harder and harder with each word, as if he could tear the turmoil and chaos out of his mind. The other hand gripped Mon tightly, almost desperately.

"Everyone!" he wailed, his voice cracking with the weight of his emotions. He felt abandoned, lost, and utterly alone. Only the faint sound of Mon's breathing answered his cries for help.

"I hate them all!"

Inside, a storm raged. 'I wish my dad was dead. I wish everyone would die! Leave me alone!... I hate being alive.'

Something shifted as if in response to his chaotic thoughts. Mon's warmth faded abruptly, replaced by an unnatural stiffness.

"Mon?" His voice trembled as his scratching stopped.

*Crack.*

*Crumble.*

Mon disintegrated before his eyes.

Fur, flesh, and blood crumbled to the ground, leaving nothing but a gory pool.

"Mon!" A heart-curdling voice cracked with disbelief and terror. He stumbled backward, his tiny hands trembling.

'Why? Why?' The question reverberated in his mind, his heart hammering as confusion and fear took over.

"Tenko…" A soft voice reached his ears, barely louder than a whisper. Like a devil's call in the aftermath of what had just happened.

Panic overwhelmed him while dread settled in. 'What if someone discovered the truth? What if father learns about it?'

Tenko spun around to see his older sister, Hana, walking toward him hesitantly.

Her voice was quiet, uncertain, as though she were trying to mend something broken between them.

"I… I'm sorry, Tenko…"

Her words barely registered. His mind spiralled further, panic twisting into something darker.

'She can't know. She can't know… Mon… She can't see this! She'll hate me… She already hates me!'

His breathing became shallow and erratic. His thoughts raced as he clutched his head. 'Breathe! Breathe! Breathe!'

Hana continued, her voice trembling but steady. "I'm the one… secret… showed you."

Her words barely penetrated the storm in his mind. He couldn't focus. His chest tightened.

"Mon… Mon…" His voice choked, barely audible. The dizziness was too much; he felt like he was going to faint.

"What's wrong?" Hana's sudden question cut through his haze, shocking him back into reality for a fleeting moment.

Then despair surged like a tidal wave, drowning him completely. 'Hana, no… Go away! You can't see this!'

"AHHHH!"

Hana's piercing scream shattered the fragile moment. The sound jolted Tenko awake and suddenly sobered his collapsing mind.

Before he could stop her, Hana turned and bolted toward the house.

'No! Wait! Don't go!' Tenko's thoughts spiralled into desperation as he stumbled after her. I can't talk! Hana, you came to apologize, right? Hey! Then help me next time! Protect me! Don't leave me!

But she didn't stop. She didn't turn around. She just kept running.

Fear turned to rage, and rage gave him strength. His vision blurred red as he reached out, his fingers brushing against her arm.

"Stop running!"

*Cracking*

*Crumble.*

"Hana… HANA!" Tenko wailed, his voice heart-breaking.

He stumbled forward, collapsing onto the gore-streaked ground where his sister had stood.

He clawed at his face, trying to wake himself from this nightmare. But no matter how hard he scratched, the horror remained.

'It's me… I killed them… I killed them… Mon... Hana...'

He vomited, his body convulsing with grief and terror. The sounds of footsteps off in the distance seemed to become a melody, a guiding light away from this hell.

Figures blurred in the distance as Tenko's teary eyes tried to focus. Desperation clawed at his chest, his small hands reaching out instinctively.

'Help me. Please... Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Hana... even Mon... anyone! Please!' His fingers stretched toward them, trembling, searching for the security he'd lost.

He stumbled forward, his legs failing him, and caught himself as his hands hit the ground. A strange, exhilarating surge coursed through him, flowing from his fingertips into the earth. The sensation was alien and intoxicating.

'Why don't you come to me?' His thoughts raced, spiralling into darker places. 'Why do you look at me like that? Why?? Why!! I HATE YOU ALL!'

The movement broke his crazy thoughts. His mother was running toward him, her face twisted with a mix of determination and sorrow. For a fleeting moment, confusion cut through his rage.

'Mom?'

But then the memories came crashing back, his father's cold fist, the sidelong glances of his family, their willful ignorance of his pain. Anger flared again, searing through his veins. They had let this happen to him. They deserved this.

And yet...

Her arms stretched out, reaching to embrace him.

She's running to me... to hold me...

The hatred faltered, just for a second, replaced by a flicker of something he couldn't name. But it was too late.

Her body began to crumble, her figure dissolving into nothing but dust.

"Mom?! No! No! No! No!" Tenko's screams ripped through the still air as his knees buckled. He fell forward, clawing at the ground where she had stood, his fingers sinking into the dirt.

The world paused, frozen in horror. Memories surged: her warm hugs, the soft encouragement, the way she stroked his hair when he cried. Then came the other memories: indifference and quiet compliance.

Tenko's breathing hitched, his chest heaving. It's not my fault! It's not... it's not! The words rang hollow, even in his own head. He couldn't escape it… this crushing guilt, this inescapable truth.

Then he saw him.

His father.

Standing there, staring at him with wide eyes filled with horror and disgust.

Tenko's body stiffened. The hope that had flickered for his mother now blazed into something else entirely. He's my dad. He can help me... right?

"D...D...Dad…" The word came out cracked, barely audible. His hands moved to his face, clawing at his skin, pulling his eyes down to almost get a better sense of sight at what his father was here for.

But his father didn't come to him.

Instead, the man's hand swung hard and fast, striking Tenko across the face. The blow sent him falling to the ground, his small body landing in the dirt with a dull thud. Pain radiated from his cheek, sharp and stinging.

"Stop, Tenko!!!" his father yelled, his voice trembling with anger, yet his fear couldn't be hidden.

Something inside Tenko snapped.

'He struck me. Once more. It's always him...'

The anger surged within him, infusing every part of his being. Fear, guilt, and sorrow were overwhelmed by an uncontainable flood of rage. He looked up to his now fear-stricken father,

"DIIIEEEEE!!!!" The word tore from his throat as he lunged forward, his small hand latching onto his father's face. Five fingers pressing deep.

Tenko didn't think. He didn't need to. His body moved on its own, driven by something primal, something terrible. He felt the exhilaration again, that same intoxicating rush as his father's body began to wither, decay, and crumble under his touch.

The man who had caused so much pain, the man who had ignored his cries, beaten him, broken him. This man was finally gone.

Tenko's lips curled into an exaggerated grin. His chest raced with shallow breaths. The feeling was euphoric, unlike anything he had ever experienced.

But then, the silence.

The realization.

The itching stopped, but what remained?

Nothing…

He looked down at his hands, now marked with the remnants of his father's life. The smile disappeared, giving way to a vacant expression as his thoughts attempted to grasp the weight of his actions.

The rage drained away. His legs gave out, and his small body collapsed onto the soft grass.

Tenko's mind whispered one final plea. His eyes closed as an unnoticeable whirlpool of time and space tore around him.

"Someone... please... make it stop..."

And then, there was nothing.

*****************************************************

...Piltover Revolution...

Faint mumbles and shouting clouded Silco's mind as he trudged along the bridge connecting Piltover and Zaun.

'Please, no, please don't,' his voice of struggle repeated in his mind. The bridge felt longer than usual. Along the way, dust-covered corpses lay, and white ash settled upon those who lay here for an eternal slumber.

Silcos slowly limped; his movement stopped, and he felt his head spin as he fell to his knees. 'NOOOO,' his face contorted, expressing the pain he felt.

In front of him lay his best friend, Felica, her once vibrant smile forever shut with the stiff frown.

"Why did this happen? We weren't prepared, so is this the compromise and peace you sought, VANDER!?" His malevolent whispers into a loud roar went unanswered, accompanied only by the crash of a rickety light post, which had served its long purpose. The light shattered, enveloping Silco in the surrounding darkness of this dismal world.

After a little more time of mourning, Silco stood back up, his eyes of sadness now turned into one of ambition and fury. He thought that after being submerged in the polluted waters of the Under City, he had already changed, and nothing would change him. But he was wrong. Seeing Falicas death finally broke him.

'Vander, your dream was wrong, I always knew it, and when I confronted you, you tried to kill me… now after her death, I wonder if you are still the same…Piltover, we are not done.'

This silent spark would wait to light the fuse of something no one could stop.

******

*Whistles*

"Stop!"

Enforcers ran after a boy with pale blue hair. His tattered clothes suggested he might be from the undercity, yet he was aboveground, just near the cleanup of a riot suppression.

The boy was Tenko. He didn't understand how he appeared here; he only remembered a weightless feeling. Then, he appeared not far away from explosions and shouts. Instinctively, he ran away, but enforcers caught him on the way, and now this chase has happened.

"Go away! I- I didn't want to kill anyone!" His words screamed back. Tenko assumed this was the police coming to take him away after murdering his family, unaware of the more serious aspect.

"You can't run forever!" The enforcer chasing him was closing in quickly. Tenko had no way of knowing where to go in this foreign land, and he was smaller and less agile than the trained officer behind him.

Tenko ran around in alleyways and finally cornered himself. He turned around in fear. His hands touched the wall, decaying it behind him, and he fell backwards into rubble and dust. The three enforcers around him didn't think much of it; they either had a poor foundation or were destroyed by the riots.

"Heh, he is a fast one, Sir. Should we follow procedures?" an enforcer said through the muffled mask.

"No, Cadet, I heard of a merchant buying those with distinctive features. Don't you think this one with pale blue colour is 'distinctive'?" he said as he removed his mask, showing a sloppy, mediocre and normal face.

"Yeah, the Seargent is right. The last one we sold was enough to-," the last one chimed in, still muffled through the mask.

"Shut it." The Sergeant interrupted, but his thoughts differed. 'hmph, no one took me that time.'

"No… I… didn't mean to kill anyone…" Tenko broke the silence with his mumbling.

"Kill someone?" The Seargent stepped back a bit, raised his rifle, then, still seeing the incoherent boy, lowered his and passed it off.

"Look, the gutter-rats already pissed himself in fright. Well, it's unlucky to meet us after all. Marley, go and get him. Ensure it's discreet; we don't want the councilman to hear about it again."

The Sergeant and the other enforcer then turned around to keep vigilance.

Listening to the Sergeant's command, Marley took the lead to grab Tenko. 

But all Tenko saw was his mother going in for a hug. He reached out his hands to grab her.

"The brat's giving himself to me, this wi-AHHHH." Marley initially thought Tenko had given up any resistance, but as the boy grabbed him, his armour did little to protect what happened. First, before he could react, his armour was gone, and then his arm. The pain jolted his mind to let out his scream before decaying completely.

His scream caught the attention of the other two, turning around as they raised their rifles, where it finally landed on Tenko, but what they saw left them shaking their once-disciplined trigger finger, feeling insecure about pulling the trigger.

"Mom…" the ghost howls from Tenko made one of the Enforceres breathe heavily, fear overtaking him.

Tenko slowly walked through the gore-filtered ground, his steps carrying strands of hair and plasma, his eyes completely white, as his hands scratched at his face,

"Devil! Monster!" The Sergeant struggled to find any other words, barely managing to utter those before firing, but his sigh of relief was abruptly halted as the bullet disintegrated just before reaching Tenko.

"SHOOT! SHOOT TO KILL HIM!" He screamed at his other cadet, who also fired, 

Shots echoed in this alleyway, startling a passerby, who slowly walked around the corner and hid themselves in the shadows, observing.

Tenko, oblivious to his surroundings, imagined his mother's arms wrapping around him as her soothing hands gently stroked his head. 

'My poor boy, what have they done to you…' 

His eyes were vacant, and though he was unconscious, his powers reacted instinctively; his decay surged all around, causing his surroundings to disintegrate, starting with the rifles held by the Enforcers, making the ground tremble beneath him. 

'Tenko, it's time for me to go now…' his mother's voice from his memories whispered. 

"No, Mom! Please don't leave me!..." Tenko cried aloud. The decay chasing the retreating enforcers.

'Tenko… Here, you will find the love we couldn't provide. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive us.' The figure of his mother moved toward his sister Hana, then to his grandparents, and ultimately reached his father. 'Tenk-' 

"AHHH, I DON'T FORGIVE! I DON'T FORGIVE!" His power surged, then stopped, only obliterating the closest enforcer who didn't back up, leaving the Sergeant who turned to run, but the decay got to his legs first. 

Then, the memories faded from Tenko's mind. His brain and energy felt exhausted. Within the last hour, he had never done and gone through so much.

Tenko sank to his knees, his mind clouded and struggling to shut down. All he could see was a legless man crawling through the dusty fog. Unable to hold on any longer, Tenko finally fell forward into a warm embrace.

Before he lost consciousness, Tenko muttered.

"Dad?…"

"Dad?" the man echoed, gazing at the pale blue-haired boy lying unconscious in his arms, feeling a mix of confusion and concern. He carefully lifted the boy, his heartbeat pounding with unease, yet his face remained cold and composed as he began to move toward the crawling enforcer.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps, the enforcer turned his head and begged,

"Help me!... I am an enforcer sergeant. Get me to help, and I'll reward you generously…" his breathing was heavy as a trail of blood followed him.

He got a better look at the man, especially the boy he was carrying. "Why are you carrying that monster? Kill him too, I will re-"

"Why do you presume I would help you?" the man said with a curl to his lips. His sharp eyes narrowed.

The Sergeant was a bit stunned but still replied urgently, "I'll reward you. Please help me…"

"You got one thing wrong. I am not a citizen of Piltover. You're not very bright-eyed, are you, failing to recognize me?" he remarked with a hint of amusement, observing the Sergeant's expression of surprise, anger, and eventually fear.

"S-Silco!" The Sergeant's voice could only stutter. He knew who Silco was, one of the leaders of the riot that took place today.

"You got one thing wrong. This child is not a monster. Rather, he is a gift granted to me, one that will help me shape my ambition. He is my...T-" Silco stopped himself. The word tool could no longer come out as naturally as he thought when he was just spectating earlier. 'Dad,' he remembered the boy's voice before he passed out. A flicker of warmth sparked inside Silco at this moment, creating a conflicting surge of emotion.

'This sensation tugging at my heart...' Despite his cold demeanour, a longing for fatherhood began to stir, leaving him feeling both unsettled and contemplative. He couldn't dismiss this unexpected feeling.

Finally, staying true to his real thoughts, looking at the scratched, dirty-faced boy in his arms. A small smile appeared on his usual calculating face... "Son."

"Son???" the sergeant's now pale face couldn't help but be exasperated.

"Keeping him alive will lead to the end of everything; not only Piltover but all of Zaun will fall when faced with such power!" The Sergeant's rambling voice started becoming madness when he saw Silco show no reaction, "Hahaha! But you gutter rats wouldn't be able to comprehend it, would you? This will be your own retribution. Before Piltover falls, that thing will be your undoing. HAHAHA-" 

His frantic rambling ceased abruptly when a dagger pierced his heart. His wild eyes regained clarity in that fleeting moment, Which only caused Silco, who thought everything was under control, to have a moment of outlash.

What he saw in the final moments from the Enforcer's eyes wasn't mere rage or disdain for the person who killed him. Rather, it was a mix of pity, mercy, and reflection that we are all just humans, not divided by anything.

This left Silco's chest to heave violently, his thoughts spurned and clashed with ideologies and experiences he has had,

'If you truly, deep down, realized that we are all the same, why did no one speak up? Why couldn't we all co-exist already… why did Falica have to die!'

He paused, breathing deeply, and finally looked down at the boy asleep in his arms. "Fate has dealt a cruel hand for you, child, one with such immense power…" Then, thinking of the boy's unconscious screams for his mother, he softly continued,

"And problems we Zaunites all have…" Silco thought of the Sumps, then slowly shook his head. Moving his head upwards, he kept whispering,

"You will become my son, and I will care for you…" He finally laid his gaze on the high-rise councilmen building, "Piltover, our time is not finished yet…" 

He then glanced at his newly acquired son, his voice laced with calculated amusement and expectation.

"When the child grows, Zaun will rise..."

As he walked over the decayed ground, back towards the Undercity. Leaving his last faint words.

"From the Dust."