All Trips Have A Start

An hour after their meeting with Vander, the squad plus Maddie reconvened outside the stables, where they had seven carriages and fourteen horses ready.

A frail but beautiful woman approached them.

"General Ekko," the woman greeted Ekko. "Congratulations on your marriage."

"Thank you..." Ekko said, and Viktoria raised an eyebrow.

"You're Viktoria, aren't you?" Caitlyn said, covering for Ekko. "My brother told me about you."

"Yes, Lady Kiramman," Viktoria said. "If I may, I'm honored to be under all of your protections."

"No biggie," Ekko said, dropping any pretense of speaking like everyone in this universe. "Let's get this started. Viktoria, please tell me what's going on with each carriage."

"Certainly, Sir," Viktoria said. "Two of the carriages are filled with refined gems, and a third is for all my equipment. As an apology for disrupting your honeymoon plans, His Highness prepared a lavish carriage for you and Lady Kiramman. The last three carriages are for us to place our personal belongings as you wish."

Ekko nodded, then after a minute he started barking out orders. "Violet, put your things in the first carriage, I need your ears up front. The second carriage will be one of the carriages with gemstones. Powder and Viktoria, you'll take the third carriage. The fourth carriage will be the equipment. Fifth carriage will be mine and Caitlyn's, then the gemstones, and Jinx and Maddie will take the rear. Let's get to it!"

Fifteen minutes later, everyone's things were in their respective carriages.

Ekko waited for Caitlyn at the entrance to their carriage, then he helped her up, then he went to the front, and got up to the coachman.

"Join one of the other carriages, I got this," Ekko ordered. "I'll call you when I need you."

"Yes, sire," the coachman said, and Ekko took his spot, holding the reins.

The caravan left the city, and Ekko knocked on the wood.

Moments later, Caitlyn joined him from inside the carriage.

"I found a map in our belongings," Caitlyn said frostily while spreading the map across her lap.

"Alright, look, before we do all that, let's deal with everything we need to deal with," Ekko said. "Is that fine?"

Caitlyn threw the map into the back of the carriage and glared at him. "Sure, let's talk about how you trapped us in this trip through the Arcane, changed who we are, then baby trapped me!"

Ekko took a deep breath. "I haven't done any of what you blame me for. Why are you so insistent I did?"

Caitlyn stumbled over her words, and Ekko glared at her.

"So," Ekko scoffed. "It's because I'm a Zaunite? I have leaning towards crime, is that it?"

"N-no!" Caitlyn said, then her glare returned full ****. "You admitted to starting the spell, don't throw accusations!"

"Do you trust Jayce?" Ekko asked, and Caitlyn looked at him confusedly.

"Of course I do," Caitlyn said.

"Alright, then you'll have to trust that he trusted me for a reason," Ekko emphasized. "And if that's enough, when we get to him, I'll write the set of runes I used, let him translate it. Until then, I'll treat you like you're right, and you'll treat me like I'm right."

Caitlyn looked away for a moment. "That's... acceptable."

"Janna, I hope this world's version of you is more bearable and better than you," Ekko groaned. "Out of all the people in the world to coparent with, I got you?"

"Coparent?" Caitlyn challenged. "Bold of you to assume I'd let you even see the child."

Ekko glared at her. "Come between me and my child, and you'll find out how the Glorious Evolution failed."

Caitlyn uncontrollably shivered slightly.

"Do you think the child is even going to be ours?" Caitlyn asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"What do you mean?" Ekko asked.

"We're in their bodies," Caitlyn said. "Is my body pregnant, or is hers?"

"It might be both," Ekko said after a while. "When I was in Powder's universe, I was superimposed over that Ekko, and I didn't know until the minute I left that world."

"Wonderful," Caitlyn said. "So, I get that we probably need some Hexstones, but what are we doing here?"

Ekko stared at her. "I told you I'd treat you like you were right, not like you weren't the woman who gassed the Undercity."

"It was a necessary evil!" Caitlyn said.

"A necessary evil, my ass," Ekko said. "You Pilties, just take and punish, and go to sleep while giving yourselves bullshit excuses. If there was ever a reason to agree with Viktor, it'd be to erase Piltover."

"Of course you're whining," Caitlyn matched his tone. "You Zaunites just whine and blame us for your problems, then you turn to Shimmer and **** and wonder why the Undercity is so shitty."

Ekko shook his head. "Half of the Council bought Shimmer in large amounts. The system you used to turn the Grey on the Undercity was created by your mother with that contingency in mind. The Hexgates destroyed the last tree in the Undercity. Do you really want to say we're overplaying the victim card, or will you admit Piltover is at fault?"

Caitlyn just huffed and didn't respond, and the trip continued in angered silence.

After five hours of riding, Ekko finally called for the caravan to stop.

"Alright, this is enough," Ekko said as the sun set. "Powder, Jinx, Violet, please join Caitlyn and I in our carriage."

All of us sat down together, poring over the map Caitlyn brought.

"So," Ekko said. "We just left Houndston, the capital of Zaun. Now, I know we've been heading south, so I know we're going to use a port in Glammory, but does anyone know the plan beyond that, like where in Piltover we're going?"

Everyone shared helpless glances.

"We're gonna need to let Viktoria know," Powder said. "That's the only way we can plan anything."

"That's for tomorrow night, then," Ekko said. "Do you have any questions?"

"Just the one," Jinx said. "Do you plan on doing the same spell when you finally recreate Hexstones?"

"No," Ekko said. "I'm gonna use the same equation that Heimerdinger used to send me back through the Arcane, but unlike last time, it won't deposit us back home."

"More time with you guys!" Powder said enthusiastically. "What'll happen next?"

"First, the Arcane will grade your performances," Ekko explained. "Then after, the Arcane will change us again, then it'll be onto another adventure."

"When will it end?" Caitlyn asked.

"When we've glued the cracks clean," Ekko said. "That's when the Arcane will finally be able to send us back to our universe."

"That's our goal, then," Violet said, standing up. "I'm headed to bed, goodnight."

"I'll come with you," Caitlyn said, standing up as well.

Ekko looked at Jinx and Powder and gulped internally.

This would be a difficult conversation.