It was hard to find your peace while the painful screams of a man were haunting your mind.

The pain had made Silco's voice quiver, the fear had been clearly written on his face. At that moment you had felt all his suffering, your whole body had reacted to him.

Although you couldn't explain it, you had to admit to yourself that you felt pity for him. And at the same time, you didn't want that pain to plague him again.

Tossing and turning restlessly in bed, the muffled voices of the revelers droning above you, you had to bite your lips thoughtfully.

There had to be a way to make the whole thing painless. And if not completely painless, then at least bearable. Silco was no saint, but he too deserved not to die.

A life full of suffering was also no solution.

But what could you have done?

The shimmer had to be instilled in the eye, otherwise it would probably not have the same strong effect. Besides, you couldn't tell exactly where it would go.

Maybe his bloodstream would be affected, his deeper organs, or worse, the healthy eye.

No, the spot was right.

But the procedure took too long, was too much of a torture. It would have been madness to expect him to jam a needle into his eye again every time the effect wore off.

On top of that, he definitely couldn't have done it by himself. He needed help, otherwise the perfect position would be missed.

At the many thoughts you squinted your eyes, buried your face in the pillows and had to groan loudly.

The whole thing was insane, but there was no other way out. If you couldn't help him to his satisfaction, then he would lose patience and kill you. On the other hand, when the medicine was completed, then he would have no more use for you.

And despite this dilemma, in which you would most likely die, you could not help but feel the desire to do what he asked. It was no big deal, just medicine for a dying man.

Again you had to sigh heavily. Things would have been so much easier if the man wasn't the Eye of Zaun. His death would mean chaos in the lanes. His survival, in turn, could cause war with Piltover.

"Bloody hell!", you cursed and threw the pillow on the floor in frustration. "Why won't you just let me sleep?!"

When you awoke the next morning, you couldn't remember how long it had taken you to finally fall asleep.

With a hoarse throat and the taste of smoke on your tongue, you took your first breath of the day and had to blink a few times before the light of day stopped blinding you.

Getting ready, you disappeared into the bathroom.

For the first time your eyes fell on the clothes Silco had sent you. Sevika had said that he had chosen the uniform himself, but it seemed too similar to his own. She had mentioned that he wanted to mark you as his pet, but you didn't believe that he would give away his look for that.

A stamp or other identifying mark would have been enough.

But it didn't matter, you liked your own clothes best anyway. With that thought, your hand reached out for the pile of old rags you'd owned for ages. But when your fingers touched the fabric you suddenly froze.

Something cold and slippery suddenly covered your skin.

Disgusted, you hastily withdrew your hand, your gaze darted around.

"Paint...", you growled, trying to keep calm in the morning. "Pink and blue color... Jinx you little-!"

Grimly you pulled a face and wiped your hands. All your clothes were covered in the stuff and soaked, so much so that even the furniture underneath was still dripping. You definitely couldn't wear those anymore.

With a disbelieving laugh, you had to bite your lips. Malicious tongues would have claimed that she had done this on purpose to force you to put on Silco's gifts.

But you didn't dare to say this insinuation out loud and you put on the uniform, while the first patience thread of the morning was already breaking.

"All is well...", you murmured to yourself and took a deep breath as you climbed the stairs to the pub. "I have no time for this, no will. We are calm. We all like each other. Everything is good."

At the very moment you spoke the last word, Sevika's grim face appeared in front of you. Surprised, you jumped back and almost stumbled down the stairs again.

But Sevika was quick, reached out with her hand and grabbed you.

"Feeling suicidal?", she asked with a grin on her lips. "Would feel the same if Silco would like me as much as he does you."

You gifted her a disgusted expression.

"Excuse me?", you asked overly dramatic and pulled yourself up on her arm. "I'd say we're the biggest of enemies."

Chuckling, she shrugged.

"Then you didn't meet him yet?"

"No? Why would I want to meet him this early? And why are you speaking so highly of him all of a sudden? Gives me the creeps."

"Hm. I was freaked out too."

Your eyes widened in surprise. Frightened, your grabbed her by the shoulders as if your life depended on it.

"What happened?", you asked, fearing for your life. "Did he have side effects? Oh, his face peeled off, is it that? He's going to tear me to pieces."

Laughing in amusement, Sevika threw her head back and almost swallowed the cigarette that she tried to lit a second ago.

"Worse.", she said with hints of tears in her eyes.
You squeezed your eyes shut and pulled your head in.

"He died?"

"He's in a good mood."

"Oh fuck! Wait, what? What did you say?"

Struck by surprise, you couldn't help but stand there, your hands wrapped around her muscular biceps and staring at her with an open mouth.

Your eyes jumped over her face, trying to look for a joke, a prank, anything that could have explained the information she had given you.

But there was nothing to be seen but honest and sincere amusement.

"You're... you're kidding, right?", you asked, just to be sure.

But again, she shook her head.

"Dead serious.", Sevika confirmed. "He asked to see you. Take a look for yourself."