You and Viktor lay side by side on soft green grass, staring up at a sky painted with the sickly off-watercolor hues of the Arcane. He was not your Viktor, not the one that you had been partners with, resurrected with the Hexcore, and then been abandoned by. And you were not his Jayce, because his Jayce would forever remain kneeling, hammer in-hand, as nothing but the automaton husk of the living, breathing man he had once been.

Viktor -- the Mage -- had manipulated the Arcane so that you would arrive here. It has been months now. For many weeks, you had been languishing deep in the cave systems, having fallen down a steep slope while running in a blind panic. You broke your leg and barely survived, wasted away. You took apart your Hextech hammer to make yourself a brace and managed to claw your way back up to the sunlight.

The Mage found you. You were terrified of him, but he managed to soothe your frayed sanity and use his magic to heal you.

In many ways, this was a good place. There was food, shelter, and a Viktor that doted on you as if you were something truly beloved. The fondness in his eyes was enough to make your chest hurt. He was different than the Viktor you remembered-- older, his eyes full of sorrow, the lines of his sallowed face more pronounced. He remained the kind heart that his counterpart no longer was. But you could not stay.

There was another universe -- your universe -- that needed you. The reason there were no other living beings in this world was because of Viktor and his plans of Glorious Evolution. Here, he had not been stopped, and he had paid a dear price for his hubris. But back in your timeline, there was still hope.

"I don't want to leave you," you whimpered to him as he held you in his lap. The pair of you were watching the sky. "You must," he replies, voice low and miserable. Adamant. "You have to stop me-- him. You must find an alternate ending." "But he doesn't love me. You do." The Mage kisses your forehead. "He will always love you. You must remind him of that."