Arcane: Painted Tapestries

Entresol was in utter chaos, with Callian's rather educated guess about a Coup D'état being dead on.

Vander's old supporters were either being converted to Silco's cause or now littered Zaun's winding streets in bloody pieces; leaving behind a lasting reminder for those who would dare to oppose their new dictator.

Zeri looked down upon the bloody slaughter taking place in the streets below; staying safe within Callian's strong embrace as he surfed across the Undercity's dilapidated rooftops.

Up until now, she had believed her parent's deaths were nothing more than another one of the many murder cases that happened in Westside every year.

Oh how wrong that had turned out to be.

The sheer scale of murder going on around Zaun had nearly made the girl sick, but she had managed to swallow down the hot bile rising in her throat - somehow.

Zeri had asked Callian what was really going on across the Undercity, but he had replied with a terse; "Not now." implying that a proper explanation would be given to her later.

They had reached the Entresol border, delving forward into the darkness of Eastside and disappearing inside of it.

As the numerous yells of pain and anger drifted away behind them, Zeri finally realised that there was truly no going back now.

Her home was gone.

She began to cry, silently this time; mourning the loss of her innocent childhood that had been burned away along with most of the Undercity.

This night would never be forgotten by the underground.

A few minutes later and the unlikely pair arrived at Callian's hideaway; with the man leaving Zeri propped up against the iron gate while he went to sweep the house.

She didn't want him to leave her alone in the pitch blackness - but this check had to be done. There was no harm in being careful.

The place was empty.

Satisfied, the man then returned to collect Zeri's shuddering figure before scaling the side of the mansion and dropping down through the roof's secret entrance.

The attic was far more homely than it had been before, as Callian had spent most of his spare time fixing up the place to meet his very particular set of needs.

Gone were the random growths of Zaun's luminescent fungus coating the walls, having been replaced with a series of small lanterns that hung at equal distances along the ceiling's thin support beams.

Not a speck of dust remained on the dark wooden flooring; with the small mess of blankets that had lay in the corner of the room now swapped out for a large hammock that stretched from either side of the house's bordered up dormer. *

A patchwork sandbag hung from the ceiling in the room's centre, an object that had required many trips outside for him to fully fill. 

A massive set of small handheld mirrors were nailed in tandem right in the centre of the leftmost wall; conjoining together to form a large head-height one, an array that looked extremely out of place in the otherwise spotless and organised room.

Callian walked over to the hammock first, setting the weakened girl down on it before moving over to grab his spare and beginning to prepare it for his own usage later that night.

Zeri looked around dopily at the spacious room, likely never having seen a living space so clean or sophisticated before.

She slid into a sleeping position slowly, her curious gaze now flicking back towards him.

The outskirts were not a suitable place for a child to grow up in - the girl couldn't stay here forever.

But for now, this would give him ample breathing space while he figured out what his next move was.

"This is where we will be staying for the time being." He said softly, attaching one end of the spare hammock to the stone wall.

"You - live here?" She asked, staring at him in trepidation.

"What? You didn't expect such a place to be in Eastside?" He replied, dropping his large hood and allowing the girl to see his masked face for the first time.

He removed his cloak's fastenings, pulling it off and walking over to hang it up on a small protrusion in the wall's otherwise smooth surface.

A flash of surprise flickered across Zeri's face as she stared ahead at the strange attire he wore underneath it. "Yeah, my dad always said the only things that live out here are the Rabids."

Rabids.

Zonai who were said to have gone mad and fallen victim to the beast that lived inside of them.

The rumour was a flat-out lie that had been widespread by a few of the more racist factions back when Zaun had been a simple mining town.

It had taken a long time for the demi-human immigrants to be fully accepted and integrated into Zaun's many varying communities.

The stereotype had been adopted in recent years and told as a hushed story to keep young children from ever venturing this far into the outskirts.

Callian snorted loudly, causing the teenager to frown at his humorous reaction.

"What's so funny?" She mumbled.

"Rabids aren't real. They're just a myth made up to keep the younger generations from coming out here."

"What? But why?" Zeri retreating to hide behind the hammock's large folds, her young face heating up with a poorly hidden embarrassment.

"Many curious children have travelled out into the darkness of this sector, only to starve to death when their torches burnt out; unable to find their way back home." Caillian's tone dulled as he remembered his first excursion into Eastside.

It hadn't gone well.

Like he had said earlier; the outskirts were not a suitable place for a child to grow up in.

All it took was one mistake and your life was over.

"Oh." Was all the teen could stutter out, unable to think of a proper response to the depressing topic.

"Enough talk." The man waved away any chance of future questioning. "Go to sleep. We can talk more once you have had an adequate amount of rest."

Zeri turned over in her hammock, feeling an odd sense of comfort at being in this strange place. "I feel like I could sleep for days." She murmured, eyes closing.

The girl fell into a deep slumber quickly, no doubt drained by the overuse of her relatively dormant powers.

Although Callian had no doubt that she would be reawakened soon enough.

Nightmares of what had happened earlier that day would likely plague the girl's sleep for years to come.

—

[Two weeks later]

"Zeri."

The teen stiffened up, grabbing a hold of the juddering sandbag that was swinging in front of her to steady it.

"Cal? You're back." She turned around, the tiniest of greenish sparks arcing between her short hair.

This caused the unkempt mess to frizz outwards in all directions, bobbing slightly as she rushed to hug Callian's masked figure.

"Hard at work I see." He said, glancing towards the heavy sandbag that he had repurposed to withstand hits from someone of the teen's magical abilities.

A few runes of absorption, reinforcement, and protection were scrawled haphazardly onto its patchwork surface; precisely altering its durability to survive up until being hit with a certain level of the girl's power.

It was a very watered-down and primitive version of the runes inscribed onto his anti-magic vambraces. The Arcane languages never really were his strong suit, no matter how hard he had worked to understand them.

For now, they were still staying in Eastside, with Callian not having found a reason for them to leave the mansion yet.

He didn't have another planned event on his timeline for another two weeks, and that particular task would require a very delicate handling.

Even with the reassurance the 'Steel Shadow' had given him, Callian still wasn't sure this interaction was a good idea.

The woman he planned to meet was in a very volatile state during this time period, meaning he would have much rather waited a few more weeks for her to fully recover.

But as always… He was on a time crunch. This could not be pushed back.

Callian sighed, forcefully prying the clingy girl off of his person.

Zeri was a diligent and enthusiastic learner, even if she wasn't the most physically able one.

Her weak, childlike physique was acting as a bottleneck for her incredible potential as a Champion.

The girl's aspect gave her an unfair advantage when it came to observation, evidenced by the fact her eyes could follow him during bullet time; meaning she could analyse the fighting style he tried to impart on her with a ridiculous ease.

However, the rest of Zeri's body could not keep up with her brain or eyes, lagging behind by a staggering amount.

The girl sometimes looked as if she were trapped inside her own skin, especially when training.

Either way, since she did not possess the same finger armour as him, Callian opted to teach her one of his older martial variants.

The style was heavily kick oriented; with one's arms being used only to block or defend, while the legs were utilised to send out a multitude of devastating attacks that targeted a human's weak points.

The girl had questioned him at first, confused as to why she was learning hand-to-hand combat rather than how to control her aspect.

This dubious attitude had changed however once he had explained why he was doing so.

"From what I have seen from your abilities, you're likely an enhancer. This means your body is a medium for whatever aspect you hold; meaning that your powers were made to be utilised in close-quarters combat."

This sound reasoning had made sense to her and Zeri hadn't pursued the topic any further.

In reality, Callian wasn't sure if she was actually an enhancer or not; it was just too early to tell.

Magical aspects like hers solidified the more they were put to use; their upper limits being redefined by how and what their wielder utilised them for in the moment.

So, if he trained her in melee combat; she would eventually evolve into a speed-abusing hand-to-hand fighter; a wildcard, just like he was.

It was a role he was more than familiar with playing on the battlefield.

It was also something he could effectively teach, unlike with the ins and outs of any other tactical position.

Zeri's aspect had apparently been with her since birth, which was very rare.

But she had been suppressing it all this time because her foolish parents thought it was too dangerous to be trained safely.

If they had been smarter, and more accepting of her abilities, they might survived the Coup. 

Still, he had to thank them for their incompetency.

Zeri was now firmly in the palm of his hand thanks to their idiotic decision-making.

"I've been practicing what you showed me this morning. I think I've really gotten it this time." She bubbled with excitement, pulling the man over to the sandbag and dropping into a very familiar stance.

Callian felt odd; seeing someone else making use of his ragtag, makeshift martial art.

In a green flash, the girl's right leg slammed into the bag's side, sending it careering to the left.

Strong, was all he could think in response to this. Far too strong for her age.

Zeri had to back out of the way to avoid getting knocked to the floor by the now violently swinging sandbag.

The support beams stretching above the two of them creaked unhappily. That beam was definitely going to break at some point in the future.

Well, putting aside the unusual speed and power behind her attack, Zeri's technique… Was flawless.

All it had taken was two weeks of instruction and she had now mastered something he had periodically honed for the first eight years of his complicated life.

Callian did not award Zeri's performance with the word 'Flawless' lightly.

With his shimmer-enhanced eyesight, he could see how she had accurately read the exact positioning he had used when demonstrating the move.

The distance and time taken to extend the calf, the proportions and fluidity between each step in the attack - were perfect. A perfect imitation of the demonstration he had given her.

The girl was a genius.

"Another flawless imitation - congratulations Zeri. I would like you to repeat every move again so I can re-grade your overall performance." He said, turning away to hang up his cloak on its designated hook.

Callian heard the girl's heartbeat stiffen before relaxing. She had felt a minor twinge of discontent?

He paused slightly, before walking over to the array of mirrors on the far wall and starting to remove his jacket and vambraces.

"You are unsatisfied?" He asked her flatly.

Zeri's heart skipped a beat. Was it that obvious?

"I just… Well, you said this would be hard to complete right? But I'm already finished with it all ?" She trailed off, leaving Callian to guess what his new ward was thinking.

"I did say that, however it seems I had severely underestimated your latent talent in this very specialised area of combat." He replied, prodding her gently for any sort of reaction.

A slight jump in her pulse, then nothing.

"Did you expect to be praised for this?" He asked, turning to face the younger teen.

Her pale face reddened slightly, her heart rate spiking past its usual state.

So that's what this was about.

Callian had already had this exact talk with Powder around a month ago.

His response now would be the same as it was back then.

"So you did." Callian turned back around, removing his leather jacket and skin-tight shirt so he could view the interlocking tattoo drawn onto the back of his left shoulder blade.

Yes, the painstaking act of collecting these mirrors had undoubtedly been a useful investment of his precious time.

"But you haven't done anything worthy of my praise." He continued, glancing back at the still-flustered teenager.

Zeri froze, her fists clenching together tightly.

She had stayed in this place for two weeks working on what he had demonstrated to her, without his help.

All that and she hadn't done anything worthy of praise?

She was starting to get angry at him.

A minuscule arc of viridian electricity zapped across her exposed shins.

"Do not look so upset girl. It is true that for others of your age, a feat like this would have likely been an impossible one."

She blinked at him, confused.

"But on a personal level of achievement?" He turned around and blurred over to Zeri, tapping her on the forehead.

Her heartbeat quickened in shock at his sudden movement.

He whispered lightly into her ear. "This task was far too easy for you. In fact, it shouldn't even be considered a milestone."

A heavy-handed approach was his best option here, just like it had been back then.

Callian turned away again and walked back to the mirror array, brushing his shoulder-length hair aside with his now unarmoured fingers.

Zeri looked back at the sandbag that was still swinging next to her, sighing discontentedly.

Was Cal right?

…

Yes - yes he was.

This was far too easy for her to be considered a challenge.

She had been so excited to learn from him; mastering one move after the other as quickly as she possibly could, eager to prove herself useful to the man who had saved her life.

Cal had looked so shocked when she had mastered the first movement he had demonstrated in a day; allowing her a glimpse of one of his rare, faint smiles.

He had complimented Zeri on the hard-earned achievement, making her feel satisfied with the effort she had put into learning it.

It was only now the teen realised it hadn't been hard-earned, not really.

The initial learning curve had dropped lower and lower the more she practiced the art, resulting in her blitzing through the rest of his teachings at a near-inhuman pace.

The girl had never been good at anything before, with her parents doing their absolute best to shelter her from anything and everything the Undercity could throw at them.

She was now learning just how much this overprotectiveness had stunted her growth.

It was a bitter lesson to learn; that her late parents were unintentionally crippling her development, especially after how she had ended up parting from them.

With how good she was getting at fighting now and how fast it was happening; Zeri's flawless image of them had been sullied somewhat.

The tiniest sliver of resentment towards the two of them had begun to blossom because of this fact.

So, desperate for the same level of validation she had gotten from Callian after their first lesson, the girl had run headfirst into everything he sent her way.

Until all of it was no longer a challenge for her.

"The reason I'm asking you to do it again is because you haven't met one of my hidden criteria yet." The man called over, his eyes starting to glow as he analysed the tattoo located on his shoulder blade.

The girl's growing frustration got the better of her, causing a flicker of static to blitz across her bruised shin.

She dropped back into Cal's martial stance before slamming her shinbone into the sandbag with another flawlessly executed move.

What hidden criteria?

She hit it again.

Everything she had done was perfect, even he had admitted to that.

So what was she missing?

The girl was broken from her brooding as the patchwork bag split at the point of impact, a combination of sand and earth spilling out onto the spotless flooring.

Zeri froze. That wasn't good.

She turned around to face Callian tentatively, terrified of what his reaction to this blunder might be.

He was still facing away from her, gazing into the vast array of mirrors before him. She saw his eyes a dangerous flash violet, reflecting back at her person from every single one of them.

"Consider the hidden criteria fulfilled." Said Callian, the briefest of smiles flashing across his masked face before disappearing once more.

"Huh?" The girl looked at him stupidly, gaze flickering back and forth between him and the now destroyed bag.

"I had to… Break it?" She muttered confusedly. "But-"

"No." Callian interrupted her. "You had to break it without meaning to. Break it while doing your best to hold back your power."

Technically her emotional state had triggered this slight increase in power.

But the finer details didn't matter to Callian at this point. He had waited long enough already.

Zeri had to be ready to leave in two weeks, even if that meant artificially speeding up the refinement process.

"I made it so this," He indicated the bag behind her. "Would withstand a certain level of your electricity. A predetermined, pre-set level."

"You've been generating electricity subconsciously for weeks now. A spark here, an arc there. But the level of energy being used adds up over time. Can you guess up to how much?"

Zeri's eyes quickly widened in understanding. Clever girl.

"Over the last few weeks, your daily output of electricity has been steadily increasing by the hour. So now after fifteen days; your daily output is far more than what you used to fry the man who murdered your parents. So tell me Zeri - do you feel like you could sleep for days right about now?"

"No…" She replied, gazing down at her hands, where a few arcs of greenish electricity zapped between them. The girl's rearing excitement was shining out through her aspect now. "I don't even feel tired."

"And there you have it. Proof of your progress."

Callian reached down to sling his top back over his shoulders, having found the information he had been looking for.

The Brackern weren't going to be a problem for him, but his hextech armament would likely be a necessity to even inflict damage onto the sturdy creatures. Their carapaces were just too hard for him to take on weaponless.

"Thank you." Muttered Zeri, looking a tad bashful.

The man opposite her re-attached his vambraces before walking over to the attic's secret entrance.

"It's time for the next step in your training. Or it will be - after you clean up the mess you made."

Callian gestured towards the damaged sandbag and the pile of sand covering his floor.

Zeri groaned.

Dammit. She knew that wasn't going to be good.

—

[Two weeks later]

"Alright." Said Callian, hopping out onto the mansion's roof. "It's time for us to depart. Zeri, are you ready?"

"Coming." The girl called back, scurrying towards the man's deep voice and struggling to pull herself out of the attic's secret entrance.

It was time for Callian to greet the Ferros family's new head.

And hope that she didn't try to have his own removed during their introduction.

Because no matter what Camille had said to reassure Callian in his original timeline; her younger self was most definitely going to try and kill him.

Even the calmest of people tended to do that after you broke into their home while they were sleeping. He couldn't even imagine what she would try and do to him.

Well - he could. It wasn't a pretty sight.

—

* A dormer is the term used to describe a horizontal protrusion from a house's roof, usually framed with windows to allow light into the attic.

—

This was originally meant to be spaced out into two separate chapters, so if it feels a bit rushed, now you know why.

—

(Total word count: 3608)