"Okay. Wear this, and this." For the whole six months, PJ had an interesting life.
She didn't have any standard clothes anymore, just her one outfit she came in, and the rest was wardrobes of fancy stuff. Her room was where she could talk however she wanted. Walk however she wanted. Listen to whatever she wanted. That was it though, everywhere else, fancy city.
She ate meals prepared for her. Everything was always clean around her. Once a week, her and Shields went to do a little shopping, to give her some interaction with outside folk. Her only real stress was learning the accent and manners of the area. Sometimes she did a lot, and sometimes she got overwhelmed and they yanked it all back.
She also had access to the fighting gym when she wanted to work out her tension. Boy, did she use that. Sometimes, she would meet her future mercenary people. Some were fine. Some didn't care she was there. One was a real witch she would have to set in her place later.
"I meet the big honcho today." Anatoly Jr. was in charge of the mercenaries. The guy who had given her all of that for free. Also, the one who still had her trapped. But also, according to Shields, the one keeping her alive. If his parents find out about her problems, they would straight up end her.
"PJ?" Shields knocked on her door. "It's time."
"Okay. Big day." She looked toward Anatoly in the middle of the room. "Hey, Mister Mysterious. Thanks for the half a year of neverending room service and clothes and food and all that."
He looked a little offput.
She heard a gripe beside her. "Right, the correct manner in which to talk? You are getting the best I can get with the accent, Bub. Sir." Better try harder. "I wanted to be more sincere before I put on a fake show of nods, smiles, and little words. Thought it might be nice?"
"Not really, but you are lovely."
"Okay, sorry about that mix-up." Come on, PJ, pull it together. She bowed traditionally in her dress. "Pleasure to meet you again."
He nodded. "Can you still fight?"
She put up her fists. "Absolutely, wanna go?"
"I have been adding you into the mercenary outlet for distribution. You'll be meeting with the other mercenaries you will be working with soon again, as well as learning more advanced fighting lessons."
Well, at least that will be fun. He told her how most of her days would remain the same there, except he would be moving in over there with her.
Except.
It turned out, Mister Slick himself, still must have had a thing for pink eyes. Or blue hair. Or something. Opposites attract.
But not for her. "No way should you be dreaming of marriage."
"What a stupid dumb fuck!"
PJ watched as the woman with a raven mask called her out. She knew she'd be coming, previous leader and all.
"Anatoly totally chose you, Powder," that same raven masked woman spouted. "He chose you. For the rest of your life, you are going to live like a fucking princess. Even now, do you think we all get the same amenities as you?"
PJ looked toward their clothes. Yeah, there was some discrepancy. "I'm just a mercenary."
"I would totally take your place!" the person with the pig mask raised her hand and said. "I love and treasure you, Anatoly, I could be your wife! I could apply whenever you want," she said seductively.
Whatever. "Go for it, I'm just staying a mercenary."
"Besides glowy pink eyes, there's nothing unique about her," the raven masked woman spouted again. "There are several actual unique people here."
"It's five years. No one is taking her spot," Anatoly said. "She wants to take it slow, it will be slow."
PJ glared and watched the raven woman. She didn't ask for anybody's attention on her. Maybe he was into pink eyes, so what? It didn't mean she'd do anything, or that she would cower to this raven. "Back off."
"You're an idiot, and you are supposed to be the new leader? You don't know a damn thing about how hard it is out there if you are so carelessly turning down Anatoly!" The raven masked woman screamed at her.
Boy. She was annoying. "So what do I get paid for what?"
"That is not of your concern. You will take care of your missions. Create your mercenary name."
Ooh. "Hijinx the Monkey."
"Powder the Monkey."
Whatever.
"Powder. You will have to verse off with Steph for it. Only one of you will remain as a mercenary. The other will be killed."
"It comes with the name, leader role and marriage," the monkey masked woman said. "I accept the challenge."
"Sounds good to me." That monkey mask is mine.
"No way, I challenge her!" The raven masked woman yelled.
"Leader role, name and marriage is not going to be given away," Anatoly told each of them. "Powder-Jinx hasn't had the same lessons as you yet. Whoever she beats, just gives away the mask and position. If she doesn't win, she'll defeat the next one. No killing tactics either."
"Ugh, he's smitten," the raven masked woman said with a sense of disgust.
"Ugh, he's probably trying to find someone better than two girls lapping at his feet." PJ was getting tired of it. Although? That probably didn't help out either. This guy just requested in five years for her to marry, have his kids, and live in the village for the rest of her life.
No thanks.
But, that annoying and stupid Raven lunged toward her. PJ was ready for the lunge, but not the strength behind the lunge. She was pinned, she watched a knife getting raised, and-!"
PJ grabbed at her neck as she saw the raven fall over on her.
Dead and oozing black blood?
"That was a killing move." Anatoly came over toward PJ. "Powder-Jinx has not had training yet. You are out, Margo."
PJ knocked the raven masked woman off, but there was another on top of her. Scorpion.
She stood back up. The Raven wasn't dead, she was knocked out, but the scorpion masked guy? He was oozing. Black blood. Not just black blood. It was scorching the floor. What the hell did Anatoly do?
She watched Anatoly grab the scorpion mask. "I killed Scorpion in place of you, Raven, because mother and father won't let me kill you. Yet. I will tell them, and next time, you will have no defense. I'll do more than knock you out, you'll be steaming dead on the ground instead." He walked over toward the monkey masked woman. "We lost a member, so we all now fit. Do you wish to fight her, Steph, or just switch masks?"
The monkey masked woman took off her mask. She had blonde hair and an almost scared look. She took the scorpion mask. Anatoly walked over to PJ.
"Here, Lovely Lady." He smiled at her.
PJ took the mask. "You just killed that guy for nothing."
"She played unfair," the wolf answered. "and someone had to pay. So, Anatoly touched him."
"One touch, and he made her blood like poison?" she questioned. "I mean? I guess mine is kind of." She did have shimmer. "That stuff ate through the floor." It was still eating through the floor. This guy was no better off than Viktor. How was she going to study that stuff? "Do we all die when you die?"
"Oh, no, Lovely Lady," he said once again. "The family has run the village for countless years. There is no tie exactly to me, which is why children are important to continue the village."
"That's what happens when his power comes fully out of the blood," the wolf masked guy answered. "He's a nice guy usually, but you don't fuck with him. Ever. He can kill people in seconds by just yanking all his power away. It sizzles them inside like poison. He has before."
"Oh, don't scare her," Anatoly said. "Plenty of people can take out others with the arcane quickly. That is why you are trained and take lessons before you are put out for fighting." He looked toward PJ.
And touched her. Luckily, she felt her power level move up slightly, not a sink down to death.
"I am biased though, Margo was right. You are fascinating. This is not arcane, this is something different with you. Shimmer is so different, the magic and science building together. You are a piece of art." He let go.
Piece of art? "You never . . . tried that with me, did you?"
"You have powers of shimmer coursing through you, without heavy detrimental side effects. You're fast. You're strong. You are also gorgeous."
"I'm a blue-haired mess. I can't believe I'm the one you want to marry. You've got weird taste."
"You know I could reach out, touch you, and kill you," he said to her. "Yet you still said what was on your mind. Not the correct action, but . . . that hardness. That hair. Those pink eyes. I'd have to be a fool not to see you."
Man, this guy. Kind of freaking me out.
"Not to mention the fact that this Silco didn't let you turn into a lot of others here. They curse like sailors. They'll sleep with a client if they are just cute."
"There's nothing wrong with that," a crocodile masked person responded.
"There is for her. She's never even been kissed before," Anatoly told them all. "Just like me."
PJ shrugged. Silco didn't exactly urge anything like that. She was busy inventing anyway, and of the dumb people in his gang, none of them were appealing and all of them were old. "How'd you know that?"
"A guess. He clearly got it right," Wolf responded.
"So?"
"So nothing." He touched her cheek. "You can keep it until the marriage. I will wait." He let go of her. "Welcome to our crew, Powder the Monkey. You will continue your manners and voice accent learning. You will start with your advanced fighting lessons. You will continue your medication, your mind sessions with Shields, and work hard on yourself." Then this guy actually smiled. "If you do good for me, I will do good for you. If you need something, I will do my best to get it done."
"Like to be able to create?"
"No."
Ugh. "Like what?"
"Protecting those you love tends to be the default around here," Anatoly said.
Protecting someone I love. "It would have been great to get your help with Warwick, but he's gone now." She killed him. She killed him for Vi. Destroyed by Viktor way before that. "I could have asked for something extra for a kid I was watching, but I got her killed too." Isha. That brave little . . .
"It was used to protect my village once," Wolf said. "I stretched up and out the missions, so I could see covert things going on in my land. Anatoly helped the whole group go all the way to Demacia when things got rough. We didn't take all of Demacia, we just got rid of the problem, and blocked everyone from knowing the problem."
Vi and Ekko. "Could you watch for some key clues about Firelights? If anything happens to them. I mean. If their base is found." She could protect Ekko.
"You will go," Anatoly said. "Granted. Piltover and Zaun are not a great distance away. Anything else?"
"Could you help me know about my sister too? No meeting or telling her I'm alive, I just want to know she's okay."
"Done."
"Oh! And?" Well, he did have power. "Silco left me something. It got taken away. I wouldn't want it at the time anyhow. Didn't even think about it or care. But. I know I'm technically dead, but I inherited the shimmer factories. Could we get them shut down?"
Yeah, that face wasn't as peaceful. "Hextech is practically gone now in Piltover. Shimmer is run by different chem-barons now competing over each other. I could try to get you one, but even my power can't get you all of them."
"Yeah, okay. I want one. When it's mine, I want it shut down." Ekko would appreciate that.
"If you shut it down, there will be a lot of unguarded shimmer inside of it."
Ekko wouldn't appreciate that. Maybe she could do something else better with it. She wasn't in the right frame of mind for it right now. "Okay. No more producing shimmer, but a whole set of guards protecting the building and it's contents. That means feed the experiments and take care of the plants too."
"Understood, I will do that."
"Okay. And? I really want to create something."
"No."
"Why not?!" Seriously. "I haven't created anything in six months. I have a creative spirit, I need to create!"
"I hate mess."
"It's an organized mess."
"It's. Not."
"You'll get me a shimmer factory, tell me about Vi, and watch for keys about the Firelights, but you won't let me create?!"
The crocodile momma spoke up. "Children play with toys through a checkout system. The toys are very simple. One toy at a time. Maybe you could work like that?"
"One . . . gear at a time?" Not possible. She would need different sized gears alone, she needed boxes of equipment.
"No." Anatoly turned that down. "That isn't how inventing works, we are not even trying it."
"I want a microscope." Why not try to get straight to the point?
"No."
"It is one full thing, not several things strewn about. If you won't let me create, then I can at least look at things scientically."
"You would need slides."
"Then one at a time."
"No."
"Why not?"
"You will break it."
"I am not gonna break it."
"You are trying to get mechanical things, so that you can break things off of them, and create. Creation is against the rules. The only creatives are those in the arts. The metal designers. The glass designers. The clay designers. The general art designers.
Oh. "I want that. Can't I have that?" she asked. "Instead of this mercenary thing?"
"You can help them when we are older and engaged properly," he said.
"Okay. Fine. What else do I want? Oh. Can I not be the one who marries and has kids with you?"
"No." He came closer to her.
"His parents will never allow it," Raven said toward her. "He can be brutish and bossy and downright shout it, but his father rules. Getting property situations is easy for Anatoly and getting information is easy too. It's part of his job, as becoming leader. However, getting and promising you actual things that are tangible, whether a toy or a ball would have to go through his parents."
"Raven!" He yelled.
"So don't ever count on getting access to anything that he can't get on his own, because his mother and father would overlook the situation. A little investigating and your doctors would be found. So don't expect anything, especially that marriage. It's mine until the Anatoly in charge says otherwise. He can't even hurt me though I am but a mercenary and making him mad, because his daddy won't allow it."
Right, guy had a mom and dad still. He was mainly talking a big game. "I can get properties though?"
"Yes, that is my division," he admitted. "I can have your sister watched easily, and I can get you a shimmer factory."
"Okay. You better." Still, Raven was being more of an ally that she though possible. "Until your dear old Dad says otherwise though, don't expect much from me in the way of belief. You've got a bride, and it's not me. Wishes are one thing, reality is another."
"I'll find a way around that. I love you too much. You are perfect."
Too close! "Last guy who said that to me got riddled with bullets." Nothing. No come back. No back talk.
No need.
While she talked a big game, he still had her right where he wanted her. She couldn't gnark to his parents, they would find out about her conditions and kill her.
Her being dead didn't free the village.
One day. One day.