THE WORLD BELOW (VixCaitlyn) / a dive into season two

Freedom

The old enamelware factory of Zaun had barely changed since the proclamation of its independence. The unfinished metal floors were littered with scraps and shards of shimmer vials, most windows shattered or re-fitted with different materials to block out the fumes.

Depraved of their leader, the Lanes had lost their vigor and were turned into a slow, directionless mass. Idleness, during those unstable times, was a risk not to be taken lightly. Sevika knew what was bound to happen if she left those dull, unguided minds to rot in the backstreets of Zaun: The hard-earned freedom of her long-awaited nation could be lost in a mere moment of weakness, and she was aware that independence from Piltover also meant vulnerability under the threat of other, more powerful nations.
The warriors of the Lanes were tough but lacked order, and they would never be able to withstand a synchronized Noxian battalion if they refused to collaborate, bickering over minor disputes and stabbing each other in the back over a sliver of power.

Although she had never aspired to be a leader, Sevika saw no other way but to take over Silco's role, at least temporarily. From the large, stained windows of the old office she watched as chembarons fought each other in the streets, sending their shimmer-fueled gladiators up against each other amidst the shortage of prime materials. Sooner than they had hoped all of their resources were depleted, and aside from few, smaller manufacturers, most shimmer producers retreated from Zaun to escape debt and retaliation.

Sevika knew none of them was fit to lead the undercity, at least not in the way she had envisioned it. In his latter days, even Silco hadn't been the leader that Zaun so desperately needed: One focused on building the city to what it could be, a stable nation of proud, hard-working, resilient people, a nation that could stand beside Piltover as an equal, not a bunch of addicts and lowlifes hiding in the dust and begging for scraps.

Times were changing and, if ever, now was the moment to strike, to change infrastructures at their core and build a functioning nation for the Zaunite youth to do an honest man's work for an honest pay. Sevika was ready to give up anything for that goal, even her own position, but never her Zaunite pride. "That Heimerdinger rat can stuff his reforms up his fuzzy ass", she thought as she looked down onto the busy crowd in the production hall beneath her, "On this side of the river, we like to do things our way."

"Would you believe it, the Lioness of the Underground."

Sevika recognized Babette's familiar voice without needing to turn around. The two women had been aquainted throughout many different eras of Zaun, ever since Sevika had been sneaking through the Lanes in search for trouble as a teenager. She grinned as she cockily replied: "What brings you here? Have you come to offer your... wares in my streets?"

The yordle chuckled as she leaned against the railing to Sevika's right: "I hoped you'd spare some time to chat with an old woman... You and me both know that you don't enjoy calling these streets your own." She gave Sevika a knowing look, to which she grunted in an amused tone while leading the way towards to what was now her office.

"So, I assume you'll want to talk about the Armstice." Sevika said as soon as everyone had settled. Some of her closer followers had joined her by the couch in the corner of the room, while the tall chair by the desk was left empty as per habit. Letting young Corbin light her cigar after offering fire to Babette and her chaperone, Sevika leaned back into the dusty pillows and stretched her legs out on a stool.

"Somewhat, but not quite", Babette replied as she took a lenghty hit from her cigarette, "I am more concerned about Vander's kid to be honest."

"Which one", Sevika scoffed.

"Well, both, actually...", the Yordle explained with a worried sigh, "Although I haven't heard any news about Powder..."

"You mean Jinx?"

Sevika growled her name like a curse. "Neither have I... That lunatic girl hasn't come back here as far as I know. Left guards by the mineshaft but she didn't show."

Babette shook her head with a saddened expression: "Who knows where she might be..." she said "but it really is Vi I worry about... I never thought I would see her again, and when I did... That poor child, losing her family all over again."

"You don't fool me, woman. If you had wanted to come to me with a sob story you's have done so years ago."

"So you want me to get right to the point, I see... I will say it as it is then. Silco's death, as much as you know I have been eagerly awaiting it..." Babette took a moment to inspect Sevika's reaction, but she remained stoic.
"It left a dangerously large and deep hole at the head of our already unstable nation, and you know as well as I do that you are not the person to take his place."

Sevika grunted, spitting out a stray piece of tobacco from her cigar. "You're not suggesting for that brainless chimp to take over, are you? Seriously, I thought you were one of the bright ones." she said with a menacing undertone "Vi is not Vander. She's a traumatized kid who thought she could heal her manic sister with some bedtime stories, you are wasting your time."

Babette chuckled, her gaze lost somewhere in the distance as she spoke: "Actually, she is very much like Vander. Young Vander. The Vander you used to look up to, the one you would have given your life for, back then. Same temper, same burning passion... Actually not very different from yourself, either, don't you think."

Sevika didn't reply. She rarely thought back to how it used to be, when Vander still governed the Lanes with an iron fist and the pride of a true Zaunite leader. Back in the day she had seen Vi grow up from a frail, timid little girl into the golden child the Lanes would talk about in hushed tones late at night in the Last Drop. Where Powder was Vander's joy, Violet was his pride.

"If she got her shit together," Sevika admitted, "She might not be a nuisance in the Last Drop. But she would have to stop chasing the past and cut out whatever fraternization she has going on with Topside. I won't have any of that Piltie trash in our city."

"Spoken like a true idealist, my dear..." Babette said softly "But you know as well as I do you can't have everything at once. If you want Jinx taken care of - and believe me, everyone does at this point - it would be smartest to accept Piltover's help. As equals, of course, not as beggars. I am sure you can strip away your pride for the sake of the future of your nation, just this once..."

Sevika laughed. She knew exactly what Babette was doing, and still, it was working. After all, she had a point: The sooner Jinx was gone, the earlier they would be able to stabilize the Undercity with something of a heroine of legend, a familiar champion to lift the morale of a heavily burdened population. With Zaun's best interest at heart, collaborating with the enemy could be her best shot.

She sighed. "You're not wrong. The Lanes don't trust me like they used to and I am not worth half as much with Silco gone, I wouldn't last long as a leader even if I wanted to be one." Her eyes were somewhat soft, the lines of her face hinting at her former beauty which vanished somewhere whithin her tough demeanor. "You win, Babette. I'll send Corbin up Topside and make sure we fix this Jinx issue. We can talk about what'll happen after that when the time is right."

"I knew I could count on you, even now." Babette replied with a smug wink as she put out her cigarette.
"After all", she continued quietly to herself, "I know deep down you've never stopped loving her, even after she died, just as you couldn't help but love Vi because she resembles her in so many ways... Her voice, her wit, her kind heart: Like mother, like daughter."