Arcane season 2

Season 2 Episode2:Born of iron and progress

"Sera,you said you heard voices?"
"Screams,dad."
"The difference hardly matters,dear."her grandmother spoke,leaning back in her chair,rubbing her temples.Sera's head snapped to her.
"My bleeding ears might disagree on that front."
"Screams or voices,it doesn't matter.You sound like a mad women.And one of those is more than enough at the moment."
the old woman said,beetle like green eyes examining her granddaughter.

Checking for further signs of,in her mind,already confirmed and innate madness that surely plagued anyone with even a drop of Zaunite blood.

The singer simply leaned back.It was the morning after her release from the hospital.She could still hear the phantom sound of the camera's flashes.She could still feel the grip of at least a dozen reports who tried to paw at her for a word.

"What do you suggest I do then?"
"Lay low.If that doesn't work say you did it for attention.Janna knows attention seekers are a dime a dozen.Like that Zaunite performer Scratch for example.Still can't believe she's allowed to preform here."
"Apparently that chem baroness who's working with councilor Tallis is sponsoring her."
"Ah,yes Ms.Veraza .She clearly believes she's allowed to do whatever she wants now that she came back."
"She's trying to give a young artist a chance,whether that's wise might be in question,but it comes from a good place."
"Good place or not,from what I heard of Scratch,controversy makes up half her fame.A larger part than her talent ever has or will."

Sera considered interjecting at that moment,but resigned.This discussion wasn't really about Scratch's skills and all three of them sorta knew that,so a comment would just rope her into a dumb political argument she didn't want or need.She started to get up,content to leave her dad and grandmother to the squabble only to hear the doorbell ring downstairs.She rushed,happy for the excuse to leave.

She opened the door to see Jayce's secretary.

"Miss Prano.Glad to see you're doing better."the woman noted,lowering her head in greeting.
"Thank you.What's the occasion?"
"Mr Tallis wanted to send you a gift to celebrate your recovery.Unfortunately he is very busy,so he couldn't deliver it personally."
"I see.May I take a look?"

The woman nodded,opening a messenger bag at her hip and pulling out a small,ornately carved wooden box.Sera opened it.

It almost fell out of her hands.Inside were Hextech shards strung on a thin chain.

She cut the conversation short after that and basically stormed past her father and grandmother,taking care not to slam her bedroom door.She did practically slam the box on the table though,lifting the necklace to the light.The blue of the crystals was a lot paler than most Hextech crystals she saw,which granted wasn't many.She smacked her lips and turned towards Acorn,the small squirrel tilted its head,getting a bit closer to her and seeming to nod slightly.

Sera placed the necklace on the bed and locked the door,barricading it for good measure.She reached for her dampener and took a deep breath.She really hoped she was wrong about the origins of those screams.She wanted to believe that it was a very high pitched soul song of a particularly miserable socialite.For once she would've preferred for her grandmother to be right.

Another breath.She took the dampener off.

The effect was immediate.They were screams,there was no doubt about it now.High,shrill,anguished and distinctly not human.She staggered back,clutching onto the chair and faltering to the floor.She was whimpering,curling in on herself,only after a few seconds.She shut her eyes tight and pressed her head against the chair.Then,on top of it all was overlayed by a mind numbing buzzing.

She managed to open her eyes a little bit.Acorn was squealing,scratching the table and backing away from her,breathing erratic and big eyes wide.Sera clutched to the chair a bit tighter,but beckoned the animal to her.It jumped to her,settling in her hand.