Chapter One
Massive footfalls sounded through the quiet, country setting. The salty air of the sea washed through the landlocked village, causing many citizens to look around, incredulous. Those closer to the eastern gate would see a towering, iron figure bearing down on the town, massive anchor in hand. It's burning red gaze swept over the small suburb.
Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths stepped past the towns meager wall. Terrified citizens began hastily throwing their belongings into wheel barrows and carriages as they scrambled to escape from the mysterious colossus. However, one person in the crowd was not so afraid of the interloper.
"Nautilus!" A childish voice shrieked, as a young, red headed girl sprinted down Main Street towards the armored behemoth, giggling all the while.
Nautilus set his anchor upright on the ground next to him and lowered himself to one knee, opening his iron clad arms to the small child. She gleefully leaped into his embrace, clutching her friend tightly as the other villagers started to return, realizing that they were not under attack.
Anne giggled as Nautilus gently let her down, taking care not to crush her in the process.
"Hello, Annie." He spoke, his voice sounding like the sinking of ships and the stirring of wreckage on the ocean floor.
"You're just in time for the tea party!" She squealed, her young mind switching tracks quickly. Nautilus nodded gravely, and extended one hand as the picked up the anchor with the other, holding it like it was a feather.
Annie took the proffered hand, and pulled him further into town as he took tiny steps to keep pace with her. Annie's neighbors looked on in awe as the Titan of the Depths was pulled along by the tiny fire mage.
The strange pair arrived upon a plastic table, complete with a frilly red table cloth and a plastic tea set. Annie excitedly pointed towards a chair, and sat down on the one across from it. Nautilus delicately scooted the chair over and kneeled in front of the comparatively miniscule table.
Annie poured imaginary liquid into the imaginary mugs in front of them. Nautilus waited patiently before he picked up his cup. The miniscule piece of plastic was barely visible in his hand.
"Thank You." He intoned. Annie smiled sweetly and 'pretend' drank from her own cup as well.
"You're welcome, Sir Nautilus! And how have you been?" Annie asked him politely.
"I Have Wandered The Land Seeking Revenge For Those Who Left Me To Die." He replied, gravely as ever. Annie nodded serenely in response.
"Hm. Is that a good business to be in?"
"We Have A Very Specific Client Base."
The conversation continued. By this time, the village had enough time to organize a solid mob, wielding pitchforks, hoes, and the occasional sword or hextech weapon. As more and more people joined the conglomerate, the angrier they became.
It has long been theorized that the overall intelligence of the mob is the lowest I.Q of the mob, divided by the number of mobsters, as it were. By the fiftieth person, the townsfolk were ravening for the blood of the enigmatic titan. To them, the only logical thing to do was to storm the monster.
Nautilus looked up as he heard shouts of anger and the stomping of feet. He looked to the far end of the small meadow he was having tea in, and saw a group of seventy or so people come swarming from past the hill, brandishing a variety of weapons.
They quickly ran up to Nautilus and Annie, surrounding their little tea set in a sea of fire and sharp objects. Nautilus casually shouldered his anchor from his kneeling position.
"We're here to kill you, monster!" The 'ringleader' of the crowd roared. All of the other villagers roared their agreement.
Nautilus stood, and stepped protectively behind Annie. He had been lynched (or at least, people had tried) before. He knew that the speaker would be the last into the fray, and the real danger came from the angrier members standing directly opposite the speaker.
"There Is A Child Present." He said, hoping to alleviate the danger on Annie.
"We have no love for the Dark Child!" The speaker roared. Again, the crowd agreed with him.
Before Nautilus could respond, Annie casually tossed a small, brown object over her shoulder. It landed at the speakers feet. It was a small brown teddy bear, missing one eye and extremely careworn. After an extremely tense second, the mobster scoffed.
"Hah! Wha- OH GOD!" He shrieked as the teddy bear expanded exponentially, into a very real, very VERY large bear. It gave off waves of extreme heat, reddening skin and singing hair on every on looker, save Annie. Nautilus had no reason to fear fire.
The bear roared, and raised a terrible paw. Before it could get them in even more trouble, Nautilus reached out and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, lifting it off the ground and holding it like kitten before him.
With his other hand he reached out and gently picked up Annie, setting him on his shoulder carefully. With a massive shadow bear in one hand and an incredibly powerful sorceress on his shoulder he calmly walked out of the crowd. Nobody seemed to want to interrupt him anymore.
Nautilus reached the edge of town without major incident. He silently set Annie down, Then reached over and snapped the bears neck with the hand that wasn't holding him. The beast turned back into a lovable toy once again. He handed the stuffed animal to the girl.
"I Think It's Time For You To Find A New Town Too, Annie." He told the young child. Annie shrugged and fiddled with her bear.
"I like it here! If they try to kill me I can-"
"No." The titan cut her off before she could go into gruesome detail. "I'll Escort You To Demacia, My Lady. You Will Like It There, I Think."
Annie smiled, and clambered up Nautilus's armor, coming to sit back on his shoulder.
"Then forward, Sir Nautilus, to Demacia!" Nautilus started forward. The endless march was easier to walk with someone who was so like his daughter.