Varus had to admit it. He was never the best in the rift. He was slow at shooting and even after collecting money to buy better upgrades, he was still slow and not as powerful. He respawned again on his teams side of the field, panting hard, with a hand over what would be his heart if he were human...he gave a slight huff at the words in his head. He was part human after all he had taken two bodies of living mortals to revive himself.

Varus looked out at the massive jungle. This was his 3rd death...and the first one was first blood...and something began to happen.

He didn't know what was happening...his chest felt tight...he felt like he had been running for hours and his vision was going blurry. He backed up and pressed his back against the rocks on the edge of the summoning pad.

"What...what is this...has someone cursed me?"

Valmar's voice came to him just then. It caught him off guard as it always did. "Your having an anxiety attack...I didn't know you had anxiety..."

Varus sneered. "What is this anxiety? What cures it? Who put it on me!?"

"Calm down, Varus. It's not like a spell effect. Try meditating."

"How can one meditate when they are on the battle field, human."

"It's Valmar. And it's easy, one of our teammates is Yasuo."

As if on que, Yasuo recalled and landed in front of them. He gave a hum and moved to the counter to get his upgrades.

"Yasuo, I want to a-"

"Not now Varus. We're taking down turrets at top and center. Make yourself useful and take bottom."

"But I need to ask you something impo-"

The samurai spun on his heals and stared down the darkin. His chest grew tighter, it was harder to breath, it was getting worse.

"Unless you have an instant win ability, do. Your. Job!" And with that, he turned and ran back along the path.

Varus was still for a moment before he fell backwards, landing on his ass and pressing himself against the wall. "I... I need to escape... I have to escape... I can't... I can't breath..."

The attack was getting worse and he just cowered in place, not knowing what to do. Valmar tried to talk to him but his voice never reached the darkin.

A moment later, Karthus respawned at his camp, gave a disappointed sigh and moved to buy items, only to see Varus, panting, clutching his head and shaking hard. He had to admit, unlike all the others, he liked him better, a like minded individual...but seeing him cower while in the spawning circle made him confused. He moved closer, landing on his feet and crouching to get a closer look.

"Are you okay, archer?"

Varus snapped his head up, looking at the undead King. "K-Karthus... I... I don't..."

The litch leaned closer, placing a hand on his hair, feeling his soul...well, Varus's soul while ignoring the two human souls. "Your afraid."

"Is...this fear?"

"Anxiety this high is no good at all...you must relax."

"I can't... I can't-"

"You can. Take a moment, close your eyes, breath deep breaths..."

Varus did as he was told, closing his eyes and breathing as deep as he could. His heart started to slow and in his minds eye, he was beneath the waves of a massive ocean. Nothing in sight, but a pressure from all around.

"Breath, Varus. You will be okay."

He followed his instruction, breathing deeper and slower. As he did, he felt as though he was rising to the surface. Once he broke the surface in his mind, his body followed suit, relaxing fully as the pressure faded. He opened his eyes with a soft sigh and nodded. "Thank you, Karthus."

"Of course. Come, fight by my side. I'll keep you alive longer."

"Okay... Let me get some upgrades."

VICTORY

Once the fight had completed, Varus thanked Karthus and returned to Ionia, a small sigh escaping his lips as he believed the anxiety issue was over with...

"Apparently he had some sort if anxiety attack or something."

The tightness returned as he overheard those words. He looked around and saw his brother, Aatrox speaking with Kayn who was telling him about what he saw. Kayn had been on his team and now that they were back, he was informing the older darkin of what happened.

"That's foolish. Darkin don't get anxiety."

"Well apparently, if ya fuse with a human ya can."

He had planned on joining his brothers but now was against the idea as he tried to slip away unnoticed. Unlucky for him, the scythe Rhaast had a keen eye.

"There he is. Varus! Get over here!"

More tightness. "I'm busy. Leave me be."

"Oh what, your doing human things?"

"At least I have my own body to do things and not balance control with a psycho."

Kayn laughed as he felt the anger radiate from the scythe. Aatrox then stepped closer.

"What is with this anxiety issue you had?"

"It's nothing Aatrox. I'm fine. Now leave me b-"

The larger darkin suddenly grabbed Varus's arm and dragged him closer. "You are a darkin! A killer! You have no need to have this anxiety issue!"

Varus tried to pull away as the anxiety attack started again in his chest. Without one of his arms, he couldn't fight back properly and it was making it worse. "Unhand me Aatrox!"

"Looks like he's having another..." Kayn mumbled to Rhaast who gave a chuckle.

"This aught to be interesting."

"I wonder what it's like...being afraid..."

Varus was almost at his limit. Knowing that he couldn't attack with his bow and he couldn't use corruption on another darkin, he did the only thing he could think of, using one end of his own bow like a spear and stabbing the other in the leg. Aatrox snarled, throwing the smaller darkin away as he covered the wound on his leg. Once he landed, Varus took two arrow shots, hitting Aatrox's arm and hitting Rhaast in the eye before spinning and running away, leaving the other two darkin to snarl and cry out in shock, Kayn laughing the whole time.

Deep in a cave, Varus was cowering, shaking. He tried to reach out to Valmar or even Kai but with the anxiety attack, he couldn't hear them.

"Please... Please...he...h-help..."

The air in the cave grew cold as a sound of fluttering fabric could be heard. Varus didn't move from his crouched spot as a familiar face appeared before him. The deathsinger crouched before him and reached out to put a hand on his head as he did before. This made Varus flinch hard and try to push away.

"Calm, friend. You'll be okay."

"It's not working... I'm trying to b-be strong but..."

"It's hard. I understand."

"My brothers... They are mad... They won't help..."

"They do not understand. And they won't. You are special, Varus. You can feel human emotions, human fear. Something they have long forgotten."

Karthus moved to sit beside Varus only for the darkin to move close and curl up against him, searching for comfort which Karthus gave freely. They stayed there for a few hours, talking softly and gently, giving him advice and occasionally humming a tune that helped him relax.

"Who knew a herald of death could bring someone out of fear." Varus commented with a soft chuckle. The litch chuckled as well.

"I call others to their death. But those with long immortal lives shouldn't have to suffer from such things. Remember, you'll be okay."

"I will. Thank you."