Chapter 1 - Gateless.

"Even in the grave, all is not lost."
-
Edgar Allan Poe.

The howling of the wind and the screams of the damned filled his empty mind. The soft whispers of the waves and the distant cries of the seagulls only brought forth the extenuation he had been feeling ever since he began to fight. His body rested on the shore surrounded by the salt water and the sand with nothing to disturb his seemingly peaceful nap. He could also hear the quiet droplets of rain falling all over his metal body... His whole form felt extremely heavy at the moment even though he had carried the same weight for more than several decades. It was almost funny for him to discover there was still some humanity left inside the monstrosity he had become many years ago... Back in the day, he would spend entire days doing absolutely nothing aside from peering into his own abyss, trying to discover a single chunk of humanity left. An obsession that had consumed his mind until he became devoided of all emotions and feelings... Nothing was left inside of the giant and terrifying diving suit... Nothing but an undying fire...

The Flames of Vengeance.

"A man devoided of hope and conscious of being so has ceased to belong to the future."
-
Albert Camus.

For years to come, he had walked the entirety of Runetera. Looking for the ones that had betrayed and left him to die in the darkness of the depths... His soul was lost somewhere in the seas and something else had emerged within the powerful and indestructible armor. He raised from the deepest and most dangerous part of the oceans making the other creatures run away in fear at the mere sight of his grotesque body and aura. Humans and Marai alike. All of them felt the pressure of his curse and escaped before his terrible fate had the chance to devour their sanity... With time, that fear became aggression. Those foolish and stupid weaklings sought to chase him away while he chased after the shadows of betrayal... Blood ran over the oceans like young rivers as the ships and other vessels did the impossible to return him to the depths of the sea. They had simply underestimated his strength and they paid the price for their idiocy. Suddenly, the ocean was filled with more than just water and salt. I was bathed in the crimson liquid... And the tears of those who waited for the warriors... But nobody cried for him. For the man that was lost in the same darkness... So he forgot about those things... He rejected what was left in him... The human died...

And the Titan of the Depths was born.

"Hope is for people who can't see the truth."
-
Jeff Lindsay.

But something changed over the years... As the seasons changed the ships stopped chasing after him. Nothing could be seen on the horizon, not even a single desperate and abandoned soul in the vast and lonely ocean. He still walked forward with no real objective in mind, with only his everlasting wrath to fuel his tired and broken body. He would sometimes run into some lands but he would quickly leave as he knew the traitors were not there... His march continued a million of leagues later and he still couldn't find them. Slowly but surely, the earth and the environment began changing without him even noticing it. His suit began to rust as well as the anchor that was latched to his body. He did notice some of the animals had changed their patterns but that was none of his concern... It wasn't until that fateful day when he finally returned home... Bilgewater was still the same rotten port. The pirate ships were common and even the stench was familiar. He appeared on the beach and stomped the sand, making the land shake under his mighty weight... He was finally there... Where those wretched traitors decided to hide... He could finally have his revenge and maybe, just maybe he would finally be able to sleep... They were waiting for him. A bunch of stupid humans that were even smaller than his anchor. The Titan marched relentlessly until he was in front of them. Although tired, his body was ready to strike, fight and kill every annoyance and obstacle in his path... That was until the humans spoke... There was no fear, no anger and not a single sign of antagonism in them. In fact, some of them looked at him with awe. The sudden change took the Titan by surprise and it even scared him a little... They received him with their opens arms, promises of a better life and a new mission aside from marching in the never ending cycle of the depths... What a strange group of humans they were... They were called the summoners...

And they worked for The League of Legends.

"If a grasshopper tries to fight the lawnmower, one might admire his courage but not his judgment."
-
Robert A. Heinlein.

He accepted... He didn't know how or even why but he accepted and before he knew it, he was already inland. Inside a tall and huge castle filled with creatures just like him. Monsters from the abyss, outlaws and criminals of war, assassins and butchers, heroes and warriors... All of those outstanding beings caged inside the castle that was called the Institute of War... Suddenly, he was not that special anymore. He was no longer feared as there were far more terrible horrors walking the halls alongside the summoners and other beings. The relentless anger inside his suit was slowly dying... And that scared him. Because he didn't know what was going to happen after the darkness had finally left his body. What was left? He was just an empty shell of the man he used to be... His name was long gone and the only thing that remained were the runes that were written on his anchor... Nautilus was the name he adopted. The doors were open, the humans weren't scared, there was no fury and terror, there were hope and even happiness around him. The days when he would spend his life in total darkness and loneliness had ended... For the very first time in this cursed life, he began looking forward to the tomorrow. He was still a bit reluctant to interact with the others but he began to open to them. His aloof and sometimes gruff behavior never disappeared but he began showing some signs of improvement... He became something else... He became something more...

He became a champion of the League...

But as everything in his life... It didn't last long before it became hell...

"Out of all the things that look & bleed, the most bruised is a man who has seen his dreams crushed and experienced miserable hopelessness."
-
Parul Wadhwa

"Come on! Wake up! You can't do this to me! Wake up!" He could feel something slightly shaking his body as the words pierced his ears "Sarah can't hold them anymore! There is no one left but you! Please! Don't leave us alone!"

He could still hear the waves breaking on the shore, the screams of the damned, the howling of the winds, the cries of the seagulls... But he could also hear the pleading voices of those who were fighting in this hopeless war against the forces of nature. He could hear how their bodies broke under the unstoppable power of the undead, he could hear how their blood fell into the ocean and was lost in the depths, he could hear how their hope was being slowly torn apart by something more sinister and deadly than the human nature... But above everything else, he could hear and feel her small tears falling into his iron suit. He could feel her pain and her desperation, he could feel her wish to do something more... And he could also taste her hopelessness... Because there was nothing she could do about the nightmare that was taken place a few miles away in the midst of the ocean.

There was nothing she could do... But...

He could still fight some more.

He believed the creaking sounds were coming from his bones but then he remembered it was only the rusted parts of his suit. The soft sand was crushed beneath his humongous hand as he managed to sit on the beach. He gasped for air, feeling every part of his non-existing body screaming in pain. He was tired, he was exhausted and there was no way he could fight again under this conditions... But there was nobody left... And then again, it wasn't like he could die...

He was never alive, to begin with...

Slowly, he got up on his feet and took a moment to admire the show in front of him. The Harrowing had always been a concern for the people in Valoran, especially for the denizens of Bilgewater... But ever since the Institute took the matter into its hands, there was nothing more to worry about... The summoners would use one of their tricks and the threat simply disappeared into thin air...

That was until the League of Legends fell a year ago.

Without the power fo the summoners and with Demacia obliterated by Zaun. Bilgewater simply didn't have the strength to endure the horrors of the Shadow Isles. They would have asked for Ionian help, but they had their own share of problems. The civil war was slowly getting out of control and there was no way they could spare forces to help other City-States. Noxus no longer existed and Piltover had sought shelter in the Freljord, there were no news about Bandle City and the rest of Valoran was a nest of Void Creatures.

Help would never come.

So the pirates of Bilgewater did the only thing they could do in front of their extinction... They decided to fight until the bitter end. Nagakabouros was on their side and thanks to Gangplank, Sarah had managed to set up an army of a few thousands of ships with a hundred of pirates in each one of them... But those ships were simply filled with fishermen and farmers... Even the women and the children had to take place as there were not enough forces.

And now, Nautilus could see how those men and women died helplessly at the hands of the shadows and specters of the cursed isles. If Sarah was still fighting somewhere inside that mess, Nautilus guessed she was already dead... Or perhaps, she had found a more sinister destiny.

He heard the sobbing behind his back so he turned around to see his savior that brought him back from the brink of death. The Marai had always been a race of beautiful and graceful beings of the ocean. Nautilus used to watch them soar the seas from the depths... And the Tidecaller was without a doubt, the most beautiful among them. Even now with her face torn by the pain and her gorgeous eyes filled with tears, Nautilus couldn't help but feel amazed at her beauty... And for his friend, he was willing to fight the devil himself...

And he was sure he was going to do that.

"Nautilus...?" The Marai called softly behind him "Are you going...?" There was no need to answer, she already knew what had to be done "Just... Just promise me you will come back with Sarah... Fizz... I lost him and I am afraid I will not be able to... If something happens to you or Sarah I will..." Her voice cracked and she had to give herself a few moments before she could speak again "You will come back... Right?"

The Titan simply stared into the ocean... There was no doubt or fear inside his suit. He knew that there was only one way. One last thing he could do for the people that had done so much for him... He turned around to see his dear friend one last time... She was so hopelessly small, or maybe he was just huge. She was extending her hands to him with plea... He knew what she wanted but he couldn't do it... Because it would only hurt later. But he allowed himself to touch one of her palms with his finger. She could barely cover his pinky with both of her hands... But she was squeezing so hard he began to feel the pressure... Ah... How much he was going to miss this...

The thunder roared above them and Nautilus knew it was time. The chain that was latched to his body came to life and began pulling the humongous anchor used to sink him into the seas. The deadly and heavy weapon flew towards him but he easily caught it with a single hand... He was ready.

And just like he did many years ago, he marched into the darkness.

He could hear Nami scream something to him but the rest was omitted when he was finally surrounded by water. His body had grown accustomed to the liquid so he was able to move even faster than he did on land. So with a swift and powerful move, he tossed his anchor as far as he could. He waited patiently for a few seconds until he felt a faint shake in the chains. He roared and allowed his body to be pulled by whatever he had hooked onto. He rushed through the ocean at a great speed. In his journey, he could see the sunken vessels and the corpses of the men that had valiantly fought until the bitter end... He tightened his grip on the chain and allowed his old fury to fill his shell...

He was ready... To do what was needed.

Suddenly, he widened his eyes when he saw something beneath him. The object appeared out of nowhere and crashed into him, sending him out of the waters and flying into the skies... And then, he saw it. The terrible monster and the creatures from the depths that the denizens of the Shadow Isles had managed to enslave with their dark arts. The terrible god that had plagued the seas before Nagakabouros had him vanished it into the abyss... The great dragon of the depths.

The Leviathan.

Nautilus had met such monster back in the days... But as a creature of the same origin, the monster had acknowledged him as an equal. It wasn't the kind of being one could fool or stop... And considering it was currently nothing but a corpse revived by the Harrowing, Nautilus could guess there was one way out... He scanned the area and noticed a big metal boat that was currently being attacked by the tentacles of the creatures. He recognized the vessel as 'The Blade of the Seas'. The flagship of the Bilgewater army... And the ship Sarah boarded as the captain of the fleet. With newfound strength, he guided his body until he landed roughly on the ship. The vessel shook and almost sunk but it managed to stabilize itself... Piltovian handiwork, after all.

The sailors on the deck watched the giant iron monster that had fallen from the skies and wondered if the specters only wanted to torture them even further... That was until the voice of the captain was heard over the chaos around them.

"Nautilus?!" There was hope in Sarah's voice "Is that really you?!"

The Titan tried to look at her but he had more pressing matters to deal with. The tentacles of the monster began surrounding him and he had to fight back. He also had to cut those limbs that were currently trying to drag the rest of the crew into the ocean. With his huge hands, he also grabbed as many of the ghouls that were on the deck and crushed them beneath his mighty grip. His anchor flew left and right, cutting and severing the tentacles of the beast while Nautilus crushed the ghouls with his hands and feet. He fought like that for a few minutes before he realized he was slowly being overcome by the sheer numbers of the enemies... If only he wasn't trying to save as many as he could...

And suddenly, hundreds of bullets flew all around him. Crushing and devasting the limbs and the creatures from the mist. The Leviathan roared in pain and pulled away... Nautilus breathed in relief for a few seconds and turned around to see the one that had used the Bullet Time to save him. She was still the same haughty and charming bounty hunter he had met back in the League. Even if her clothes were different and her face was covered in blood, Nautilus couldn't mistake his friend. The redhead allowed herself to smile softly when his orange eyes focused on her...

But...

"That thing is back!"

Nautilus turned around to see just how the monster turned around, opened its maw and spat a huge stream of a dangerous yellow liquid towards Sarah. The crew on the deck moved away but Sarah was caught by surprise... Suddenly the world slowed down and the Titan watched how the dangerous liquids made way without stopping... The fury overtook his senses and he leaped while he roared in anger...

He had lost so many things in his life... But today...

Today he managed to protect what he loved the most.

The acid bathed his back and made him grunt in pain. Beneath his body, Sarah watched him flabbergasted while the liquid began dissolving her boat. She snapped out of her trance and began yelling orders... The ship was lost and the only thing they could do was escape and live to fight another day... The problem was the Leviathan. The monster was strangely fixed in killing each one of them and the ghouls that climbed from the ocean made impossible any sort of escape... There was only one way. Sarah lifted her emerald eyes and focused on the form of the Titan... She knew what had to be done but the cruelty of the act was so painful it made her cry... Not again... She couldn't do that to him... She would not allow it... He couldn't go through the same thing again... Not again... Not again... Not a-

"Go"

Sarah widened her eyes and focused on his... It was a whisper but she was able to hear it... Her face finally broke and tears began falling helplessly... But there was no other choice. It was the only path, and both Sarah and Nautilus knew it. She shook her head and hugged his huge body... He was cold... But it was nice to the touch... It was the only way... The only choice left...

"I will come back... I promise I will come back for you..." She cried while she kissed the armor "Just wait for me, okay... I will not abandon you... I will definitely come back for you... I promise..." And with that, Sarah ran to join her crew.

The Titan allowed himself to watch her disappear inside of the vessel... Ah... How much he was going to miss that...

Suddenly, he roared in fury. His roar was so powerful even the Leviathan and the ghouls froze for a second... A second the Titan took advantage of. His anchor flew towards his hand, and using the momentum of his weapon, he launched the anchor towards the Leviathan. The anchor latched itself on the throat of the monster, causing the creature to scream in pain. The monster tried to get away but he was pulled by the Titan instead. The tentacles of the monster surrounded the Titan and tried to crush him but his armor did not bend. The Titan kept pulling until he was able to grab the maw of the beast. He then began pulling the jaws away from each other until he finally tore the beast in two. He then grabbed his anchor and decapitated what was left of the creature.

The pieces of the monster fell to the ocean while the rest of the body oozed a foul liquid. Nautilus watched as the pirates had managed to arrange an escape boat and were slowly getting away from the flagship... But it wasn't over.

Nautilus felt how the tentacles began to crush him again and the body of the beast raised from the ocean without its head. Nautilus cursed himself for believing it would be easy to defeat the giant corpse of a monster... He could hear the panicked screams from the sailors as the tentacles of the dead creature began latching onto the boat. He managed to turn around and only saw her red hair and emerald eyes... They were filled with horror... She was scared... She was afraid... But there was also relief in her eyes... Because she was at least going to fall with him... She was going to follow him into the afterlife... He would no longer be alone in the darkness of the depths...

...

"NO"

Nautilus roared once again in fury and tore the tentacles away from his body. He then lifted his massive foot and stomped what was left of the vessel. The ship exploded and the riptide sent the small boat of the pirates flying through the skies and away from Nautilus and the monster. The last thing Nautilus saw was how the boat landed harmlessly in a strange formation of water near the shore... And after that, he was swallowed by the darkness again.

The tentacles of the Leviathan were crushing him once again but this time, he no longer had a place where to stand and fight. He grunted and tried to break free but there was something else surrounding him... Strange formations of dark matter began latching on his body. Penetrating his iron suit and corrupting his shell. He could feel how those old whispers and voices were awakened by the influence of the Shadow Isles... Slowly, his memories were being eaten by them... He was going to fall into the abyss once again... Alone in the depths...

...

But...

"I will not rest!"

The anchor returned to his hands once again like it always did... And with the last of his strength, he smashed his cursed weapon into the creature. Suddenly, the water around them imploded on itself and tore the corpse into smithereens. The attack was so powerful it created a pillar of water that swallowed the mist and dragged it down to the depths...

He had done it... Nautilus had managed to stop 'The Harrowing'... He knew it would take some time before the specters created another army but he was sure Sarah and Nami would be prepared for that... Not that he could tell anything about it, but it sure was a nice way to spend the time while he fell into the darkness. His huge and heavy body was dragging him into the abyss once again... And this time, there was nothing he could do to stop it. He no longer had the strength to even try to escape... His armor was broken and he could feel the cold water filling his suit... And his anchor only made things worse...

But none of that really mattered right now because Nautilus finally realized just how tired he was... Tired of marching, tired of fighting, tired of suffering and tired of living... This was the end of the line. This was his end and the end of his curse... He wondered what was waiting for him at the end of this darkness but he guessed it couldn't be any worse than what he had endured through the ages... And besides, he deserved to rest after everything he had suffered... Above him, he could still see the light of the sun peering through the water...

Ah... How much he was going to miss that...

...

...

...

"When consumed by utter darkness, there is nothing left but forward."
-
Nautilus.

It was peaceful and quite here... Nautilus couldn't hear a single thing aside from the howling of the wind and the rustling of dry branches and trees. He had heard many rumors about the afterlife but he was sure this wasn't what he was expecting... It was cold and he was sure he was laying down on something hard and smooth. He wasn't sure if this was how being a soul felt since he never really got along with the champions of the Shadow Isles and Illaoi was never clear whenever she spoke about the astral plane.

So with a bit of wonder and curiosity, he opened his eyes. He saw a cloudy sky and a bunch of white dots falling from it...

He was sure that white stuff was snow... He remembered seeing it many times whenever he fought in that map called the Howling Abyss... Was he in the Freljord? That was unlikely since he was sure he was sunken into the ocean... There was no way the tides could have possibly dragged his body into the shore. What's more, he was sure he was inland... Either way, answers would not come if he simply stayed there on the ground so he carefully got up, trying to avoid putting any sort of strain in her wounds... And that was another surprise, his body seemed just fine. Like when he first became what he was... He stood tall and looked above the trees to see where he was. He could see a strange castle at the distance but there was nothing familiar in the landscape.

He had heard the Freljord was a harsh land filled to the brim with monsters and other predators... But this place was something else. It was quiet and peaceful... Not the kind of world Runeterra used to be... The chain in his suit began pulling his anchor and he grabbed it with ease... Wherever he was, the answers might lie in the castle... He just hopped the inhabitants wouldn't be that terrified of him... Then again, he was never lucky.

He began making his way through the forest, stomping and knocking down the trees that were in his way. It didn't take long before he noticed the small animals the were curiously keeping an eye on him. Nautilus also noticed those animals were somehow different from the ones in the Freljord... Those animals somehow lacked the magical aura the creatures in Runterra had been born with thanks to the magic veins and-

"NOOOOO! HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP MEEE!"

He stopped on his track and looked where the voice had come from... It was the voice of a child... A young child... A child like Annie...

A child in danger...

He didn't know what got into him but when he realized what was going one, he was already dashing through the trees and destroying everything in front of him. He finally arrived at a cliff and what he saw froze him in place.

She was a young girl... A young girl with snowy hair and crimson eyes... He was right, she was not older that the Dark Child when she escaped from the Institute of War. The girl was being surrounded by a pack of wolves and the beasts were currently nibbling on her fragile body... The fire of his fury exploded and Nautilus launched his anchor while he roared in anger. The weapon split the first beast in half while it sent flying the second with the impact... The rest of the pack pulled away and had enough time to look at the enemy before Nautilus landed on top of them, squashing the wolves beneath his humongous body.

Nautilus breathed heavily while he looked around, trying to find any signs of enemies in the vicinity... His fury boiled and he could hear them whispering in his ear. His body began to shake and demanded more violence and blood... And then he-

"B-Berserker...?" A soft voice called below him.

Suddenly the fury was gone and Nautilus was completely focused on the child that was shivering between his legs. She was so small and young... He knew he was simply too huge but she was incredibly small. Her whole body was covered in red bruises where the wolves had bit her and she had tears falling from her beautiful eyes... But there was something else in them, it wasn't fear or terror... It was more like a sense of relief... As if she had been saved some way or another.

Nautilus lowered his anchor and helped the young girl up with one of his fingers. The child staggered a bit but managed to stay up... She never stopped looking at him... Suddenly, something began stirring in the Titan... He felt as if something was tying him to the young girl... It was a bond he had felt a few times back in the League of Legends... And without realizing it, he said something he hadn't uttered in many decades...

"I ask you, young girl... Are you my summoner?"

"I... Yes, I am! My name is Illyasviel Von Einzbern and I am your master, Berserker!"