Chapter 57: 5-7 Scattered

Scattered 5.7

2001, June 9: Washington, DC, United States

I decided to rip the band-aid off in one fell swoop. Mom and I were seated at our kitchen island, a bowl of rice and beansprout soup in front of us.

"Mom."

"Hmm?"

"I don't like beansprouts."

"You need it to grow up big and strong," she said in that chiding way all mothers reserve for their pouting sons.

"My Biscuits make me perfectly healthy," I replied with a smirk.

"Too bad. Mother says so."

I raised a single spoonful to my lips. Beansprout soup was a watery affair flavored with Korean chili flakes, turnips, and onions. Mom added some shrimps for additional flavor, but it was never my cup of tea. Sighing, I decided to suck it up. Hero I may be, but telling mom "no" was still beyond me.

"I'm going to give myself eyes," I said.

"What?"

"Eyes. I made prosthetics."

"Yusung, are you sure it's safe?"

"Positive."

"Well, let me see them."

I pulled a small, velvet-lined case from my pocket. As my current magnum opus, the thought of being apart from them made me uncomfortable so I always kept them on my person. I slid the box over to mom.

She opened them and gasped. Two blue orbs, roughly an inch in diameter each, shone with the brilliance of the purest sapphires. Every runic matrix, too small to make out the details with the naked eye, snaked along the facets of the gems like coiling vines.

"Son, these are beautiful."

"They are, aren't they? They're made of something I call True Ice. I guess they're 'true eyes' now," I said with a cheeky grin.

Mom snorted. English wasn't her strong suit, but she knew enough to understand the pun. "That was terrible. I feel greasy just hearing that. Is that the kind of humor they're teaching you?"

"Actually, yeah. Corny jokes are really useful to relate to kids and stuff on patrols. I've been emailing Just-Ice back and forth you know. He's got a list of ice puns he shared with me."

"That's great, honey. Now tell me more about these eyes. Are they really eyes?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, they're even better than normal eyes. They can see through walls like the Oracle's Elixir and even make everything seem to move slower if I want. I'll be able to dodge bullets like Jackie Chan."

"Yusung, no mother wants to hear her son expects to be shot at."

"I know," I said soberly, "but I will. It's a part of being a hero. I also know that I'll be ready."

She took my hand from across the island. "You will. But I'll always worry about you, my son the hero," she said with a bittersweet smile.

"I love you too, mom."

X

"Are you sure this is okay?" Hero, Eugene without his mask, asked.

After breakfast, I called Eugene to let him know that I would be implanting my eyes today. When he heard about my project, he insisted on being in the room when I did, partly to satisfy his curiosity, but also to ensure that the operation went well. I couldn't begrudge him that.

The two of us were in a Cauldron lab, this one set aside for Eugene. It was next to the medical and biochemical facility where the doctor mixed her vials. "Stocked" didn't begin to describe it; this place had everything necessary for a tinker and more. His mask was off, revealing clear blue eyes filled with concern.

"They're as perfect as I can make them," I said honestly. "In fact, I think they might be the single greatest thing I've ever made. They even grow with me and I made sure to leave room for improvements so I can just cut them out of my face and add in something new if I want."

"That wasn't what I was asking."

"Yes, the operation is simple enough. I'm going to drink an Oracle's Elixir. Then, I'm going to apply a local anesthetic. Using one of your lasers, I will cut out the bridge of my nose, leaving me enough room to insert my new eyeballs. Lastly, after making sure that the neural matrices are aligned with the optic nerves, I will drink an Elixir of Life."

"But…"

"Eugene, you know what the Elixir of Life can do for you. It's why you still shit and piss from separate holes. Relax."

He gamely ignored my snark with the ease of long practice. "What if the elixir decides your prosthetics aren't a part of whatever 'optimal health' means?"

"Already taken care of," I said smugly. "The runes engraved on them are attuned to me in the same way the Wayfinder is attuned to you. They've also been soaked in a solution that prevents any sort of biological rejection. These eyes are literally a part of me. My skull will just regrow over them normally as if they were biological eyes. And, as a bonus, I can get rid of my scar."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"Positive. And hey, look on the bright side. Maybe I'll be able to get a date in my teenage years."

"Your scar isn't ugly."

"I know. Honestly? I wouldn't mind keeping it. But hey, teenagers are shallow."

"You're in no position to point fingers," he teased. "You keep a pair of scissors on hand at all times to trim your bangs. Are you trying to be a pop idol?"

"You know that's just what I tell everyone else," I said. I did not pout, no matter the smug smirk on his face. "You leave Isolde out of this."

"I looked it up. Isn't Isolde some queen that a knight of the Round Table fell in love with?"

'Sure, in this world,' I thought. "Maybe? Who cares? I just thought Isolde was appropriate."

"Hehe, so you like older women, huh? I didn't know you were old enough to have these kinds of interests. You know pining after a married woman is inappropriate, right?"

I flipped him off but couldn't suppress a smile. That he was joking like this with me was a good sign as far as I was concerned. "Whatever. Let's get me my new eyes."

"Drink your Oracle's."

"Already did."

"Okay, give me the laser. If you're insisting on this, I'll do the cutting."

"Yeah, fine."

"Anesthetic?"

I reached over for a syringe and jabbed it into first one side of my face, then the other. "Done."

"You could have let me do it."

"I can literally see my veins if I focus hard enough. Trust me, I didn't miss. Now start the vivisection!"

"You are way too chevalier about this," he grumbled. Despite his misgivings, he put on a pair of glasses that I knew contained a UI that'd guide him. The laser drill sparked to life with a brilliant golden hue typical of all of Hero's gear. It was triple checked to cut a certain depth and no further. He gently placed the laser against the bridge of my nose. "Feel that?"

"Ahhh… Much pain… Please… Free me of this agony…" I drawled dryly.

"Brat."

"Boomer."

"What does that even mean?"

"Exactly what a boomer would say, boomer."

"I could slip, you know."

"You'd never forgive yourself."

He grumbled but his hands remained steady. Soon, a large chunk of my face, from the bridge of my nose to the brow, was cut aside and left hanging over my lip. I didn't feel anything, probably because Eugene sourced the best drugs.

He was a swell guy like that.

"Okay, now give me the eyeballs." He handed me the pair and I gingerly fit each inside their appropriate sockets.

"You really don't need eyes to see, huh?"

"You just realized that?"

"I knew that was what your Oracle's Elixir did, but I guess seeing you with half your face peeled off really hammers it home, you know?"

"Not half," I hummed, "more like a fourth."

"Yes," he deadpanned, "that's the point I was making."

"Whatever, I'm done. Give me the Elixir of Life."

"Here, you precocious brat."

"Thanks, dateless wonder."

"Oi! I can get a date."

"That isn't a stripper?"

"How do you even know what strippers are?"

"David," I said smugly. When in doubt, blame David.

"Seriously?"

"Pfft, you think he'd be as big a stick in the mud if he knew what strippers were?"

"Ugh. You're impossible. And David's not that bad."

"Sure, maybe I'll grab a drink with the guy," I drawled and moved my flesh-flap out of the way before tipping the elixir in my mouth. "Bottoms up."

One second. Then two. Nothing happened.

"You sure you didn't grab a du-"

Then it started. The blood that caked my face seemed to reverse its flow, being absorbed back into my flesh even as the flesh-flap picked itself back up to where it belonged like a scroll being rolled up. It was itchy, but in the scratch-a-mosquito-bite kind of way that was also satisfying.

"Oh, ye of little faith."

"So, did it work?"

I grinned. Isolde came to life in my hands, expanding until it was as large as a shortsword. From her thorns, three needles bound in threads woven of the Hallowed Mist shot out. Each struck with unerring accuracy. Two nailed a fly to the wall by the wings. The third struck the gap between the abdomen and thorax so cleanly that it did not disturb either chitinous plate on the way in.

"Oh, yeah. It worked. My vision is pure bullshit. Like, count your nose hairs and tell you which one is the longest kind of bullshit."

"Good, now get out of my lab. I've had enough of your snark for the day."

"Is it because I called you a dateless wonder?"

"I should transfer you out of DC. Then you'd be someone else's problem."

"Ooh! Can I go back to Phoenix?"

"Are you going to hunt down the rest of the Crips?"

"Yes."

"Then no. You're a hero. Act like it."

"Spoilsport."

"Out, you brat," he barked, but I could spy a hint of a smile.

He liked me. Probably.

X

I looked myself over in the bathroom mirror. This second life's Yusung was much better looking than my previous self. Though to be fair, I didn't have a magic elixir that made me the best possible iteration of myself and a diet of conceptually nutritious cookies to help me along.

"Yusung? Are you back?" I heard my mom call.

"In the bathroom, mom," I replied back.

"That was fast."

"Yeah, Hero and I work fast."

I heard footsteps and saw her come in. "Your scar."

"Gone. Part of the treatment."

"My son," she said as she wrapped her arms around me. "Let me get a good look at you."

I smiled back. "Like the new eyes?"

"They're so… blue…"

"Yeah, they are. Think I'll have to tell people I'm part white now?"

"Do you think you can wear contacts?"

"I could do that."

I'd need to do that anyway. True Ice replaced my entire eyeballs, not just the irises. Now, my eyes looked more like gemstones than biological eyes.

"I'm proud of you."

"I'm proud of me too, mom," I said with a cheeky grin.

She slapped my shoulder. "Don't get a swelled head. Now, what do you want for dinner? I think this calls for a celebration."

"Well, there's a baked salmon recipe I've been meaning to try."

"Sure, let's go shopping."

X

2001, June 10: Washington, DC, United States

"It's been a while," I muttered to myself as I stood in the temple of my soul.

It was time, time for me to claim my second Keystone.

The temple was as breathtakingly beautiful as ever. Stone pillars of marbled gray and white surrounded a central dais, where three golden hoops filled with nine stars orbited a core of three supernovas. Twelve censers surrounded the dais, though only seven were lit and burning merrily.

Beyond, above the temple sky, countless constellations beamed as though welcoming me forward. They were beckoning for me to take the leap, to once more grasp a heavenly treasure.

I couldn't stop myself from trembling with equal parts excitement and dread. The last time I ignited a Keystone, Glacial Augment made me an Iceborn, a folk hero of the Freljord. It filled my veins with a soul-deep chill and granted me an affinity for True Ice and ice magic like nothing else on earth. It changed me, fundamentally and completely.

First Strike? Unsealed Spellbook? Which would it be?

More importantly, how would it change me?

Every step towards the altar felt like I was crossing the Rubicon. All that lay behind me fell away to nothing, leaving only me and Inspiration. Only forward.

Finally, gingerly, with all the care and reverence that this moment deserved, I reached out a hand.

I'd often wondered if there was a consciousness to the World Rune. It was never clear. Sometimes, it seemed as though Inspiration spoke to me through its boons, timely in ways that might not be mere coincidence. Here I wondered again.

The Keystones shone brightly, so bright that it was hard to look at them. They orbited one another, almost as though deciding which should be next. Until finally, one darted outward and my world exploded with the light of a thousand suns.

So distracted was I that I didn't even notice the lighting of the censer. Glacial Augment had been localized. For all its power and potential, even though the people of the Freljord were some of the closest to their spirit-gods, it was but one part of Runeterra, one fragment of that world's vast history.

Not so for the Unsealed Spellbook.

It was as though an entire library of spells knowledge was given to me. Many, I recognized right away: Ghost. Heal. Clarity. Ignite… Flash… I could enchant them onto anything I made. If Glacial Augment was a localized treasure, Unsealed Spellbook was a culmination of some of the most powerful enchantments available on Runeterra.

And then, just when I thought I would be spared the agony of my first Keystone experience, my world became pain.

The library was vast and it had to fit somewhere. Somehow, my soul had to make room for it. And so, without so much as a "by your leave," Inspiration decided to make those changes. It felt like an angry god was taking an ice cream scoop to my soul, carving out neat little pockets for the knowledge to be intrinsically integrated with my very being.

I didn't know how much time passed. The seconds and minutes blurred together until by the time the pain receded, I was left a crumpled heap on the temple floor.

I took gulping, ragged breaths and raised myself on hands and knees. "Fuck… What the hell is First Strike going to be then?"

Still a little shaky, I stood and called the Spellbook to me. I could already tell that it wasn't a literal spellbook, at least it wouldn't be outside the confines of my soul. I flipped through them.

Some were funny, like Mark, a snowball that would give me awareness of a person long after they left my visual range. Others were redundant, like Ghost, which I'd already learned thanks to Magic Footwear. Still others were spells I'd never encountered before now like Exhaust and Surge.

But the most valuable spells were those welcome boons that expanded my understanding of a subject like Flash. With this newfound knowledge, I felt I could learn to cast Hexflash more readily. In particular, I couldn't wait until I could incorporate Cleanse into my Ymelo. I'd been immune to empaths for a while, but now I could also give physical masters like Regent the finger.

With a satisfied grin, I allowed myself to fade from the temple.