The Institution
Chapter One
"I refuse." Tobias shook this head as he crossed his arms over his chest.
The mage frowned into the papers on his desk before looking as pleasantly as possible at the rather annoying young man in front of him.
"You're required to do so Tobias."
"No." Tobias shook his head yet again. "I don't believe so."
The mage grunted.
"You are required, no matter wha -"
"Please…don't make me go…I have family…" Tobias struggled, the mage paused and shared a thoughtful look with the disheveled man.
"Look, Tobias, I understand how you feel, but the Institute is calling upon all mages, even ones that are underdeveloped."
"Can I quit now, I -"
"No." The mage stared daggers into the him. "Take this seriously."
Tobias gave a heavy sigh, dragging a free hand across his face.
"Now that you've calmed down." The mage began as he rustled through the many papers on his desk.
"You need to report to the Institute of War, I'll arrange transport from the village."
"I never agreed to that." Tobias pointed out, now slouching in his chair, all formality gone.
"Tobias." The wrinkly mage started. "You have a gift, not many can control magic and very little can do it as well as you. You have to understand that you are a liability without the supervision of the Institute, the last thing we need is another mage destroying what little of Runeterra we have left."
Tobias sighed. It made sense, of course it did, the only one who didn't was he himself. His fears of leaving the only place he had known being the only grounding reason for his flimsy argument.
"You leave at dawn. Your mother will be taken care of, the Institute stipend will make sure to that. " croaked the mage, he stroked his beard as he sat back.
Those words were final. Tobias stood and nodded.
"Thank you for cooperating."
Tobias returned it with a half baked 'welcome', the ordeal leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
For his first time arriving at the Institute, Tobias decided that he hated it.
He glanced around at the building with extreme prejudice, watched crowds of summoners mill about the opening courtyard and form groups as new summoners were told to do. Others shouldered pass him as they tried to make their way closer the entrance of the building.
Tobias found himself in a group before he could decide if he could sneak out of the courtyard using the chaos of more than one hundred new summoners in one place. He blinked his dark grey eyes as he was gravitated to the entrance of the lobby by the mass of bodies around him.
Tables scattered the large lobby, groups finding tables and handouts as they were spurred on by the experienced summoners that took on the role of 'group leader'. He oggled the lobby, from the massive chandelier that provided light to the large area to the tapestried walls depicting honourable battle; he could feel the gleaming white marble underneath his meager leather boots.
Tobias couldn't help but feel a little impressed, it was a long shot way from the thin wooden cabin he had shared with his mother.
He found himself called over to a waiting group of five other summoners. The young summoner that greeted him was all smiles. The man was ideal, tall and muscular, fit in all the places that strained his already tight shirt. His hair was cut close to his head, bright brown eyes that nicely complimented his already dark skin.
However, as customary with anything Institution related, Tobias hated the man.
He found it easy to find things to hate about this man, from his easy complexion that made Tobias's even skin lighter in comparison, to his muscled form that made Tobias seem thin. The worse part was his easy going laugh and to his self assured smile, things that came to be so difficult to Tobias in the last weeks.
Hate turned to envy.
The man had finished introducing himself, a name that Tobias didn't particularly care for, and gave leather satchels filled with informative scrolls to each of the members in his group.
"Here you go, think of this as your starter kit. It contains scrolls on rules, regulations, tips, tricks, all the good stuff." Tobias tooled through the bag, paying little attention to the man he hated.
It was only when talk of dormitories and lunchrooms were brought up did he refocus his attention.
"Within your bag are crystals to unlock your door at the dormitory, the lunchroom is always open, for those with special diets. Feel free to look around and explore, however, we need to meet up later to continue the lesson. Maps to the room are in your satchels. You have one hour." The man gazed at the young faces that encircled him, stopping lastly on Tobias. Tobias looked at him evenly, even if it annoyed him that he had to look up at this man.
"Don't try anything these couple of days, security is on high alert for the less open people. "
"How can you tell?" Tobias retorted. If the man was as smart as he silently claimed to be, he would understand the nature of the question.
"It's in the eyes." The man sighed. He looked away as the rest of the group lost interest and wandered throughout the large lobby. "It's always in the eyes."
Tobias had met with his group for more than five hours as they covered basic rules, assuming no one decided to read it in their 'starter kit'. Smart move, since Tobias had made it his new goal in life to reject the starter kit and anything Institute related. To him, 'Summoner' was comparable to 'slave'.
The group went through the rounds of icebreakers and introductions. The tall and muscled group leader (whom he still hated) started introductions.
"I'm Mayon." He grinned, revealing an even set of pearly white teeth.
Another thing to add to the hate list.
"I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but I'll be leading this group of ours. For new summoners, we split into these small groups in order to catch everybody up on magic lessons. Actual summoner training begins sometime next year. " He informed.
Then the group introductions began.
The small four foot high, blue toned yordle was name Veya, she had an annoying habit of mumbling and twirling her lengthy silver hair, something that Tobias caught onto instantly.
Afterwards was a tanned male, easily in his early twenties from the signs of unshaven stubble on his face. He wore glasses and slouched in his seat until his shoulder length red hair touched the chair. He always wore a smile. He introduced himself as Sven.
The next two, Aisha and Ceece, were sisters. Pale with contrasting black hair, the sisters enthusiastically talked about themselves, looking each person in the eye to make sure they were listening.
Tobias found it hard to look at the sisters' hazel eyes while feeling hate. He made a mental note.
He was last, he introduced himself and explained his previous life before being captured. Although Mayon was sure to cut him off early with a steely gaze when he mentioned that part.
Wrapping up the meeting with friendly closers, Mayon encouraged the group to stick together and stay close to one another, help each other unpack, talk to them, etc. Tobias split from the group at the earliest convenience.
Tobias wandered the Institution grounds between the main building and dormitory, true to what EnemyOne (This was officially his name now) had said earlier in the day, the grounds were littered with patrolling constructs aptly named the Sentinels. Escape was futile now. At least it was quiet.
He sat on a nearby bench, the cool stone provided little comfort.
Tobias thought about his current situation, of course he was finding it hard to hate the luxurious place he would see himself staying. Yes. Staying. Forever. It was this thought that pushed him on, in order to account for the major risks to the world, the Institute found it much easier to harbor any potential risks. This included mages. This was now his home, and prison.
But nodding his head and saying yes seemed so easy, the gardens were lush, as were the general Institute grounds. He hadn't yet checked his room or the lunchroom, but he had yet to be disappointed. He knew he was fighting a losing battle, he was far from stupid, he could only resist for so long.
He knew and yet he wanted to try, at least resistance made him feel like he still had a say in his life still. The bushes rustled next to him, pulling him out of his predicament, not that he wanted to think about it anyway. He turned his attention to the bush.
"Shhhh~" It whispered.
Three Sentinels lumbered past, clearly looking for something.
Tobias continued to stare at the bush, raising an eyebrow.
"You're not with your group summoner. Aren't all new Summoners supposed to be together?"
Tobias shrugged, while he didn't plan on talking to a bush today, it was a welcome distraction.
"I can't explore my future home? I was looking forward to it."
That was only half true.
He could feel the eyes of the bush occupant scrutinizing him.
"You should get back to your group summoner. You might get lost."
Tobias scoffed.
"I wouldn't mind getting lost, at least I'd have an excuse not to show up at group meetings."
The bush chuckled, opening up with laughter to reveal the lithe form of Ahri who promptly sat down alongside the summoner. To this Tobias was surprised. It's a surreal experience to meet a Champion, any of which was famous in their own right. He liked it better when she was in the bush, at least he didn't know who it was. Ahri stretched out, popping and extending her limbs. Tobias couldn't help but rake his gaze over her body with open lasciviousness, taking sudden interest in the tree overhead when she stopped.
"I saw that." Ahri smirked.
Tobias blushed, even if he didn't mean to. He changed topic.
"The Sentinels…."
"What about them?"
"Why are you hiding from them?"
The fox touched a finger to her lips, contemplating what to tell the young summoner.
"Secret." She replied simply.
Tobias frowned, seeing that she was going to stay resolute about her answer.
"Why are you out here then?"
Another change of topic.
"Simply taking a stroll when -"
"Preferably something close to the truth." Tobias cut in.
She glanced at him slightly agitated. Something about aggravating the coquettish fox lightened his mood slightly. He disgusted himself.
"Finding something fun to do." She said finally.
Yet another general answer.
It became obvious that future questions were going to be answered the same way. This thought only made Tobias bitter, it seemed like getting a straight answer from her out of the question.
"Don't you have fellow Champions to talk too?" Tobias asked abrasively.
If she noticed the malice, she didn't care to acknowledge it.
She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I swear I get this question by every new summoner."
"So no….."
"Imagine this" She prepared.
"You fight against the same people, day in and day out. Can you expect the same people who you murdered in cold blood to be your best friends?"
"But Vi and Caitlyn, to name a few..."
Ahri opened her eyes to gaze at Tobias lazily.
"I'll admit that friendship isn't impossible, but many Champions like to stay away from another. Nobody likes to bring up bad memories. "
Tobias shrugged, understanding the concept. At least it was a complete answer, he was getting somewhere.
"What do you think of the Institution?" The fox sighed, sounding bored with the conversation.
"I don't want to be here, and nobody seems to understand that."
Ahri's face sparked with genuine interest, quickly recovering her mask of preceived boredom. Her ears started to twitch as she promptly got to her feet. She brushed off her trademark clothes as two Sentinels rounded a corner near a dormitory.
She started in the opposite direction from the Sentinels, looking behind her.
"That makes most of us here."
End of the chapter :D
Firstly, I hope that you enjoyed the beginning of what I hope to be a long and prosperious story. I'll post a title cover sometime tomorrow, since I can't because I'm new D;
I was a little aprehensive about making an OC focused fanfic, but I wanted to show the interaction of Summoners and Champions within the league.
I figured I had to bite the bullet on this one.
I've never written fanfiction before (I don't normaly write to be honest), so if you could help me by leaving constructive comments, it would be much apprieciated.
I've heard that I should get a 'beta', if you could help me with that too, that would be great.
I didn't want to make my first chapter to be super long, but I hope that normal chapters run 3-4k words each!
As a writer (I wouldn't call me an author anytime soon), I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the readers who took the time to read
MY story in a SEA of stories.
Thanks!