28 - Ekko

"Oh, cut the crap," Powder started. Another outburst, but, I won't lie, this one was reasonable. "You show up out of the blue, pass by us in the streets like we're strangers – which I thought we were, but apparently not – and now you want to 'work' with us?"

I gleamed inside from the power her words had over Heimerdinger. I fell in love with her even more.

"My sincere apologies for the way I acted earlier, but, please, may I have your sympathy? I had no knowledge of you being from another world."

"What the hell does that change?" She snapped.

"Difference is that you know about the crystals, leading to an alignment of our goals."

"What goals?"

"Destroying the arcane."

A silence filled the space. The last said phrase bouncing in the air.

Heimerdinger told me all this before I went to get Powder. I could have told her myself, but I had the unsettling sense that she would dismiss me. And so, I needed her to hear it from the man himself.

Powder stared at him in disbelief. I watched her flicker her eyes, seeing how her mind was at critical work. She let go of my hand involuntarily.

"The collider... That's what it's for?" Powder finally spoke, in a soft, quiet voice.

"You're a sharp individual." His enthusiasm answered her question.

"But, all that energy... where will it go?" Concern sounded thick in her voice. She was thinking ahead. Colliding a massive powerhouse like a crystal could release enough energy to destroy the collider itself.

"It will serve the city. Replace the current power sources. Based on our calculations, the power of one crystal could last almost a decade. This will significantly improve the living conditions here, not only in resources, but also in a cleaner environment. Of course, such a gift is quite generous for a city; however, after careful consideration and analysis, we came to the fine decision to perform the operation here. This universe shows great potential, as it is far more stable politically and economically than other worlds."

Even though this was plenty of information for my tired brain to handle, there was one detail in particular that kept it sharp, "Excuse me, professor, but who is 'we'?" I addressed my intrigue. 

"My colleagues. More precisely, a group of scientists striving for the same cause you are. They were the reason for my long absence. I had to discuss matters more keenly with them before proceeding with any immediate steps."

Feeling a weakness in my knees, I sat down on the metal pipe behind me.

Wow. They planned all this out. Unlike us — amateurs trying to do something that wasn't going to work to begin with. What were we thinking? Hiding the gemstones in a different universe to save our own?

"So why did you come back exactly?" Powder squeaked in the midst of my thoughts.

"To begin the operation due to it being recently approved. I do, however, have to take a look at the crystals belonging to you and add them to our list of resources."

"They're not crystals," she started, pulling out the velvet pouch from her pocket and placing its contents in her palm, "they're gemstones."

Heimerdinger's moustache moved from the twitches of his face. His hand went up to his chest in surprise. "Goodness gracious. They still exist!" He jumped. "Oh, I must discuss this with my colleagues." His hand went to reach for the stones. "If you excuse me, I'm obligated to take them with-" 

Powder pulled her hand away. I understood why and spoke for her. "We're sorry, but we need them to travel back home." Powder turned in my direction, giving me a stare somewhere between saddening and angry. I didn't understand what was being conveyed behind those eyes. Maybe I misunderstood. Maybe she just didn't trust Heimerdinger.

"How did you intend to do so?" Heimerdinger asked, confused, "considering that you meant to eradicate them."

I told him about the Double Maker. "Ah. A risky design, but, certainly, very clever." He replied. "Well, so be it. Keep them with yourselves for now." He added, taking a small notepad from the inside of his coat, noting something down. As he did this, Powder stored the gemstones away.

"The gemstones' existence, nonetheless, puts me in a position of pondering." He paused, thinking. "I'll be traveling back to meet with my coworkers."

"When will you be back?" I asked, keeping in mind that Powder and I were on a time crunch.

"Several days, a week at most." He said, rummaging with his waist bag. He ran his hands briefly over his coat, after which he raised his arm up, allowing his sleeve to slide down. A wristband was revealed, looking very similar to a watch. He spent some time clicking random buttons on the watch's perimeter. Powder and I exchanged glances, as if asking one another what this was all about.

Keeping his head down, Heimerdinger eventually lifted his eyes, observing our curiosity. "Alright, children," he started, letting his hand fall by his side, "I need to be going now. We will have more time for conversation once I return." Then he turned to me. "I'm sure there is no shortage of stories to tell from our years apart." His smile sent a wave of nostalgia. 

With a press of one button on his watch, he started to levitate. I gasped at the sight. Shortly after, he started to... glow? The glow grew brighter and brighter, forcing me to turn away. Powder seemed to experience a similar discomfort, as she stepped back. The light was too intense for our eyes to handle. Then, suddenly, the space grew dark. The vivid light source was gone.

I turned my head back, unsure of what to expect. I couldn't find anything. Anyone. Heimerdinger disappeared. 

"Did he just-" Powder began, "that was him going... did he teleport? He can teleport?" She finally formulated her question.

Recalling the mentions of his colleagues and their choice of this universe, intuition told me this was much bigger than teleportation. "Or traveled to another universe." 

"What? So we need a huge, thousand engine machine while he needs a some tiny-ass bracelet? I don't buy it." She said, which made sense from what she knew.

"He's been doing this for centuries, Pow. We've spent less than six months on our research."

"Centuries!?"

"He's a yordle. They can live up to a thousand years and for over two hundred of them, Heimerdinger time traveled and visited multiple universes." I explained, hoping to clear things up.

She looked at me dumbfounded. I figured how exhausting it was to learn all this new information. Even I started feeling lightheaded. "Ekko, what the fuck is going on?" She took both her hands, running her fingers through her hair, starting at the hairline and stopping at the top of her head. She pulled on her hair from distress. "I'm lost in all these goddamn universes." She mumbled.

I picked myself up and brought myself closer to her. I gently tugged at her hands to pull them down. "Hey, look at this from the bright side: we have a way to destroy the arcane!"

I don't know what reaction I was expecting from her, but it definitely wasn't silence. She looked up at me, unimpressed, almost angry looking. Strange.

"I don't want to use the collider."

"But- but why?" I stumbled. "It's perfect. Not only we destroy the gemstones but we produce energy for people to use."

"The collider wasn't meant for gemstones." She noted, reminding me of Heimerdinger's surprise from the sight of them.

"Yes, but, theoretically, they would still work."

"You don't know that."

"They would only provide a more ener-"

"Stop it, Ekko!" She snapped. "What if the power is too much and the collider explodes? Huh? What then? Everyone in this city dies? That's what you want?"

I thought of that, but the chances were low. Maybe with a few modifications the chances could be lowered further.

"Well, I'm not planning to do anything we're not sure of, if that's what you were thinking. We won't do anything risky. No one will die."

"Why'd you get so excited for the genius 'destruction' if we're not sure?" She asked, rhetorically. Since she seemed to find her calm, I didn't speak further. She sat down on the same pipe I was on earlier.

"I just got Vander and Silco and everyone else back. I don't want them to-" She paused before saying, "poof." 

"They won't." I reassured her, sitting next to her so closely that our thighs touched. "You used to love blowing things up. Now it's the last thing you want to do." I tried to sway the conversation in a different direction. She grinned at my mention of the detail.

"Bad joke, mister." She nudged me. "Still funny though."

I wrapped an arm around her as she leaned her head on my shoulder. We stayed that way for a while, both full of tangled thoughts of today's events. It was nice to be with her like this, but the thoughts were miserable. I decided to change that.

"Let's go." I said, getting up. "Forget about all this shit. Let's not waste the day on overthinking." I pulled out my hand as an invite, and with a big smile, she took my hand with her own.

A/N: Can't beLIEVE I managed to write a whole ass chapter after a work day so hectic (or hextic ;) lol) we skipped lunch o_o anyways, my tired-couch-potato self doesn't have much to say other than hope you enjoyed :)

oh! actually, one thing. I have a *𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃*: show recommendations?

Word count: 1522