Logan's vision came back in pieces.
At first there was only gold, pink, and white, all of it swimming together, wondering whether eyes were something he still owned. Then the colors separated. Shapes returned. The world outside the meep's little body sharpened enough for him to see Aatroxelle floating in front of Zoe, angrily patting the girl on the head with its tiny little hands.
Pat. Pat. Pat.
Zoe lowered her head and accepted the punishment like a child caught stealing cookies.
Logan stared.
Of course the meep had survived that star.
That tiny thing was scolding the Aspect of Twilight like a strict parent.
Those things were perhaps as strong as Ornn.
Zoe stuck out her tongue at Aatroxelle.
"Sorry," she said, though she did not sound very sorry. "I thought you were some Celestials from Grumpy Boss's side. You know, chasing me, yelling at me, telling me to do important things, blah, blah, blah."
Logan blinked from inside the meep's belly.
"Grumpy Boss?"
Zoe froze.
Her huge eyes drifted toward Aatroxelle.
"Wait." She leaned closer. "Did you learn how to talk?"
Aatroxelle made a small sound and pointed at its belly.
Zoe's face changed at once. Suspicion vanished. Curiosity rushed in so fast it almost knocked her over. She pressed her face close to Aatroxelle's translucent middle, squinting through the soft glow.
Then she saw Logan.
Her mouth slowly opened.
"What," she whispered, "is this tiny little thing?"
Logan raised a hand.
"Hi. It's a little hard to explain."
Zoe gasped so sharply he thought she might swallow the meep by accident.
"You talk." Her eyes grew brighter. "You're so small and you talk. Oh my stars, you're like a teeny version of those people from Runicterra. Or Rinoterra. Runeterra? Runa-terra? I always forget because it sounds like someone dropped rocks in a bowl."
Logan opened his mouth.
He did not get a word out.
Zoe had already spun away, spotted Ahrielle nearby, and pressed both hands to her cheeks. Inside Ahrielle, Ahri was just visible, her ears twitching as she recovered from the flash.
"There's another one." Zoe flew straight toward Ahrielle. "A cute one. A tiny cute one. She has ears. Are those real? Can she hear me? Can she hear everything louder because she's small? Is being small quiet or noisy?"
Logan slowly turned toward the small sword at his side.
"Sorry," he muttered.
Aatrox's voice came out low and venomous.
"You will be."
Zoe grabbed Aatroxelle's hand. Then she grabbed Ahrielle's hand. With her foot, somehow, she hooked Zoelle and pulled the other meep along too.
"Zoelle, look. New friends. We found new friends. Tiny friends. Talking tiny friends. One of them is cute. One of them looks tired. Come on, we have to go before the boring people find us."
A round portal opened behind her in a burst of color. Zoe dragged all three meeps through it.
Logan's stomach dropped. For one second the universe became a hallway made of laughing colors. Then the portal spat them into a room he did not recognize.
The place was vast, pale, and empty. Its walls looked carved from moonstone, though moonstone did not usually hold moving constellations beneath its surface. Thin curtains hung from impossible windows, shifting as if touched by wind, though Logan could not feel any.
"Where are we?" Logan asked.
Zoe looked around with honest interest.
"I don't know."
Logan stared at her.
"You don't know?"
"Nope."
"That feels like something you should know."
"I know lots of things," Zoe said. "Just not always the things people ask."
Logan took a breath and forced himself to look outside instead of arguing. Through one of the tall windows, he saw towers.
He was inside a tower in Targon Prime.
Zoe floated upside down in front of the meeps, hair drifting around her.
"So," she said, "names. I want names. Tiny people need names. Otherwise I'll have to call you Tiny One, Cute Tiny One, Quiet Meep, and Angry Patting Meep."
Logan pointed as best as he could through the meep's belly.
"That's Ahri. That's Ahrielle. This is Aatroxelle. This is Aatrox. And I'm Logan."
The second he said Aatrox's name, he regretted it.
The sword went still.
Then Aatrox spoke with absolute certainty.
"I am going to kill you."
Logan winced.
"Yeah. That's fair."
Zoe's face slowly moved closer to the meep. Her eyes focused on the little blade beside Logan.
"That little sword is Aatrox?"
Aatrox said nothing.
Zoe's smile widened.
Then widened more.
Then became something dangerous.
"Aatrox," she said, drawing out the name. "Aaaaaatrox. I know that name. Big angry sword guy. Lots of screaming. Lots of red. Lots of drama. Wow. You got small. Did someone wash you wrong? Did you shrink in cold water? Hi, Aatrox. It's been forever. Or yesterday. Or before tomorrow. Time is rude like that."
Aatrox's voice trembled with rage.
"Aspect."
Zoe waved happily.
"Darkin."
"Do not speak to me."
"But I already did."
"Cease."
"No."
Logan stared at her, then at Aatrox, then back at Zoe.
Did Pixar write this character?
For a while, Zoe talked enough for everyone in the tower. She asked Aatrox if he missed having legs. She asked Ahri if her tails counted as extra people. She asked Logan whether small food tasted bigger. She asked Ahrielle and Aatroxelle if they wanted a haircut. She asked Zoelle if she liked her new friends, then answered for her.
Logan tried to interrupt at least five times.
On the sixth, he finally managed it.
"Zoe."
She turned, delighted. "Yes, Tiny Logan?"
"Who is Grumpy Boss?"
Zoe made a face.
Zoelle made a tiny sound beside her, almost like agreement.
"Xaneos," Zoe said.
Logan frowned.
"Xineos?"
"Maybe. Xaneos. Xineos. Shiny big boss with the big voice. Always standing there very serious."
Logan felt the temperature in his chest drop.
"What does Xineos want you to do?"
Zoe rolled onto her back in midair and groaned.
"Boring messenger stuff."
"What kind of boring messenger stuff?"
"He wants me to go around telling people about war." She tapped her fingers against the air. "War announcement. War meeting. War preparations. War war war. Everyone has to gather. Everyone has to be serious. Everyone has to stand in lines and glare at things. I hate it."
Logan leaned forward inside the meep.
"What war?"
Zoe was already distracted by Ahri, floating over to Ahrielle and tapping the air where Ahri's ears were visible.
"Can she feel that? If I touch the meep, does she feel it? Hi, pretty fox lady. Are you a fox? Are you a lady? Are you both? That seems efficient."
"Zoe," Logan said.
"Right. War." Zoe spun back. "Grumpy Boss is mad at someone. Super mad."
"Who is he mad at?"
"Someone killed some Aspects," Zoe said casually. "Well, not some someone, maybe one someone. Or many one someones. I wasn't listening very hard."
Logan's mouth went dry.
Zoe kept talking.
"He was especially mad about the death of the Aspect of War. That one made him very, very angry. Something about balance, authority, punishment, examples, consequences, blah, blah. So now he wants to destroy a world or teach a world a lesson or start with a world and see how everyone feels after."
Logan went still.
Oh, shit.
There it was.
He had known killing Pantheon would not simply vanish into the cosmic air. He had known the Celestials would respond eventually.
But knowing a storm existed and seeing it above your house were not the same thing.
Xineos was not letting this go.
He was gathering the Aspects.
Preparing for war.
Great.
Another problem.
"What does the scroll say?" he asked.
Zoe looked at him blankly.
"What scroll?"
"The one Zoelle is carrying."
Zoelle floated closer.
Zoe looked offended by its existence.
"Oh. That. The boring thing."
"Read it."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes."
Zoe sighed with all the suffering of someone being asked to clean her room. She took the scroll, opened it, and cleared her throat in a dramatic voice.
"By command of Xineos, God-King of Targon Prime, Sovereign of the Celestial Host, Voice of the First Radiance, and many other titles I am skipping because nobody should have that many names, the Aspect of Twilight shall serve as messenger to all dispersed Aspects throughout the Celestial Realm. They are to gather, answer the war summons, and prepare for judgment against Runeterra."
She lowered the scroll.
"See? Boring."
...
After the Void, this might be the next greatest threat to Runeterra.
And it was not waiting politely in line.
Zoe tossed the scroll over her shoulder. Zoelle caught it with a small bounce.
"So," Zoe said brightly, "do tiny people eat crumbs? Do you need a tiny house? I could make you a tiny castle. Or a tiny jail, but a cute one. Not for punishment. For decoration. Oh, Ahri is looking at me. Hi, Ahri. You're very pretty. Do you bite? I don't mind. Actually, I might mind. Depends on how sharp."
Ahri closed her eyes for one second, as if she was gathering every scrap of patience she owned.
Logan waited for Zoe to inhale again and slipped in before she could continue.
"Zoe. Bard is looking for Zoelle."
That worked.
Zoe's expression changed at once. Her smile dropped. She spun to Zoelle and hugged the meep against her chest.
"No."
Logan did not push right away.
Zoe floated backward, still holding Zoelle.
"She's happy with me," Zoe said. "She's my friend. She wanted to stay. The Space Beard has lots of meeps. He has so many. Bells and portals and beard and bwoooong. I have Zoelle."
Logan looked at Zoelle.
It was a meep.
A damn meep.
He had no idea what went on inside that little glowing head. Maybe it was thinking about snacks. Maybe it understood more than all of them combined and simply chose to make soft noises.
Then Zoelle hugged Zoe back.
Logan watched the small creature press itself into her with clear affection.
That made things harder.
Logan exhaled.
"I'm not asking you to give her up," he said.
Zoe's eyes narrowed.
"You better not."
"I'm asking you to let Bard see her."
Zoe hugged Zoelle tighter.
"He'll take her."
"I don't think he wants to hurt you. I think he misses her."
Zoe looked down at Zoelle. Her face twitched, a small crack in all the noise.
"I would be sad if Zoelle went away."
"I know," Logan said. "That's why I'm asking for a visit. Let him know she's safe. Let him see she's happy. After that, you and Zoelle can decide what happens."
Zoe said nothing for a few seconds.
For once, the room was quiet.
Then she looked at Logan.
"What do I get?"
Logan should have expected that.
"What do you want?"
...
Zoe's eyes slid toward the tiny sword.
"No," Aatrox said immediately.
Logan grimaced.
Zoe smiled.
"No," Aatrox repeated, louder. "Do not even consider it."
Logan picked up the sword.
Aatrox's voice became lethal.
"Logan."
"It's necessary."
"I will peel your soul from your flesh and hang it across a dying sun."
"Noted."
Zoe reached out with both hands, practically vibrating with excitement.
Logan passed Aatrox through the meep's outer glow. He had no idea how that worked. Somehow the blade left with no resistance and landed in Zoe's hands.
Aatrox began insulting him before she even closed her fingers around the hilt.
The insults were creative.
Zoe giggled.
"Can you play with Aatrox while we leave Targon Prime?" Logan asked quickly. "Preferably very far from the angry boss trying to organize the end of my world."
Zoe lifted the sword.
"Sure."
Aatrox's blade flashed.
A breath later, it grew.
One moment it was a tiny sword in Zoe's hands. The next, it was near its original size, large enough that the weight should have dragged her down. Zoe held it like a toy.
Logan stared.
"You can just do that?"
Zoe tilted her head, judged the weapon, and made a small sound.
"Too big."
The sword shrank again, not as small as before, but enough for Zoe to swing comfortably. She gave it a few experimental cuts through the air. Each movement left a faint red streak behind.
Aatrox sounded horrified and furious at the same time.
"Release me, child."
"I'm not a child. I'm Twilight."
"You are a mistake with hair."
"That's rude. I like it."
She sliced open another portal.
"Come on."
Then she jumped in.
Zoelle followed.
Logan had one second to look at Ahri. Ahri's face said exactly what he felt.
This was their plan now.
Aatroxelle went through first. Ahrielle followed. The portal dropped them into another tower, this one narrower, with a floor that reflected the stars above instead of the people standing on it. Zoe did not slow down. She ran across the room, opened another portal, and leapt through.
They chased her from one building to another.
A circular chamber full of floating mirrors.
A bridge with no railings and no bottom.
A balcony where golden birds made of light scattered as Zoe sprinted past.
All the while, she talked.
"I hope Grumpy Boss doesn't find me. He gets so stiff when I skip jobs. If he does, I'll just use this Darkrin against him."
"Darkin," Aatrox snapped.
"That's what I said."
"You did not."
"Darkrin. Darkin. Dark-red. Close enough."
"I will kill every star in this realm."
"You say big things for someone I can swing with one hand."
Logan almost smiled despite himself.
Then they landed in another tower.
This one was high.
Much higher than the others.
Zoe stopped near the open side of the chamber and peered out.
Logan looked too.
...
At first, his mind refused what his eyes were seeing.
Beyond the nearest towers, past the floating bridges and radiant platforms, something enormous hovered beside Targon Prime.
Not stood, hovered.
It was not walking through the realm. It was too large for that. Its body floated beside the celestial city like a planet drifting close to a moon. Armor, light, wings, and burning lines of power shaped a being so massive that distance stopped meaning anything. Logan had seen Xineos's hand over Shurima before. He remembered that shadow covering the desert, remembered the horrible certainty that the palm could have crushed everything if Soraka had not spoken.
Here, Logan could see more than a hand.
The Targonian God-King was a damn planet.
Logan swallowed.
He had not seen him when they entered Targon Prime. That did not make sense. Something that large could not simply be missed.
Then again, nothing about this place obeyed normal sense. Still, living in Targon Prime with a ruler that size seemed inconvenient, even by celestial standards.
"Is he always that big?" Logan asked.
Zoe followed his gaze.
"Who? Grumpy Boss? No. Sometimes he's smaller. Sometimes he's bigger. He gets huge when he's mad or wants to destroy something."
"Great."
Around Xineos, bright figures were gathering.
Aspects.
Some flew in from distant towers. Some appeared through radiant paths. Others descended from higher planes that Logan could not see until they touched the edge of the gathering light. They looked small beside him, but each one carried enough power to make Logan's instincts tighten.
"How long will it take him to gather all of them without you?" Logan asked.
Zoe straightened proudly.
"A while. I'm very important."
For once, Logan believed her without question.
Bard had asked him to find Zoelle and Zoe.
Because of Zoe, the Celestials' messenger was not doing her job.
Which meant Xineos's war was delayed.
Logan looked at the gathering host and felt a tired, bitter amusement settle in his chest.
Lucky. Insane, but lucky.
They had gone to Targon Prime for one meep and had accidentally slowed down the destruction of Runeterra by the Aspects.
Very good.
The Void first.
Now the Aspects.
And that was without counting the lighter disasters waiting in line. The Harrowing. Mordekaiser. The other Darkin. Demons. Whatever else was sleeping under the world, above it, beside it, or inside someone's stupid sword.
Honestly, how the hell had Runeterra survived this long?
Ahrielle drifted beside him. Through the glow, Ahri looked out at Xineos in silence. Her expression was calm, but her tails were still.
Aatrox, in Zoe's hands, had gone quiet too.
For a moment, none of them spoke.
Even Zoe only watched the giant light in the distance, her fingers resting around the sword's hilt.
Then she blinked and the moment shattered.
"Okay, leaving now."
She opened a portal with a swipe of Aatrox.
The blade screamed in protest.
Zoe hopped through.
Zoelle followed her at once.
Logan looked one last time at Xineos. At the Aspects gathering around him. At the war forming in the sky while Runeterra still bled from the Void.
Then Ahrielle moved.
Aatroxelle moved.
The portal swallowed them.
And Targon Prime vanished behind them.