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THE SELEANA AND THE ELESTRA
By CLS of X1-1R
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In the kingdom of Valoran, where warriors and mages were said to be always aided by the deities according to legends, there lived Alleria, the woman who was claimed as the most powerful spellcaster ever existed. She had always destroyed her foes with her arcane magic and led her army to victory.
Unfortunately, she gave birth to twin female infants which took her life away. The newborn babies were surrounded by strange powerful auras that they probably had inherited from their mother – one was scorching as fire and another was as cool as frost. The Magi adopted the twin sisters, took them into their sanctum, and named them Shyvana and Anivia.
They were four years old when they knew that they have awesome elemental powers. Shyvana can manipulate flames and change its form according to her preference while Anivia was able to control the temperature of the waters and turn them into frosty ice. Together, they were trained by the great mages of the kingdom in order to improve their abilities and for them to continue what had their mother started.
The two, together with other trainees that also wanted to become stronger in order to protect their land, were mentored by prodigies who had lots of experience in the battles they've won and lost. Shyvana and Anivia were trained by some great mages and were taught in manipulating fire and ice, respectively.
"Oh, scorching hell looking ass dude! I can't do it!" said Shyvana while trying to create a small phoenix.
"Just focus and stay calm, darling. You'll be able to make one." replied by her mentor with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, girl. You can do it!" cheerfully added by Anivia who just came from somewhere in the sanctum.
"Easier said than done, Anivia. I've been here for hours now but couldn't even make a single fire spell!" said Shyvana.
"Hey, so am I!" replied Anivia and laughed. "I can control my ice powers just a little bit now. Not enough for me to make an ice-cold punch, though."
"Yeah, you're the better one aleady, sis. Quit bragging." replied Shyvana enviously.
"Ladies, we got a lot of time being wasted here. Why don't we just use it to train harder and master our skills as soon as possible?" pleaded by the mentor along with a grin.
"Weheheh. Yes, madam." said the two sisters.
The trainees had undergone different kinds of trainings for years. They had to familiarize different battle mechanics, master their skills through one-on-one battles, and defeating monsters in the outskirts of the kingdom, participate in errands in looking for different mystical relics, and practice virtues and self-discipline. Each of them strived hard in order to become strong enough to defend the land where they all came from.
After fifteen years of hardships, the skills of the sisters became superior among others and became two of the great elementalists of Valoran. Shyvana earned the title "Seleana" for her dominion over flames while her sister Anivia was named as "Elestra" for her cabalistic control on ice. They had great potentials and were assigned to lead armies to war. All barbarians and bandits who attempted to intrude the kingdom of Valoran were either conflagrated by flames or were crystallized after the encounters. The Seleana and the Elestra then became very well-known all throughout the kingdom.
On an errand to exterminate the armies of Noxus, the archenemy of Valoran, in their fortress at Lotus Marsh which was located just a mile outside the kingdom, Shyvana was assigned to join the army of King Garen's vanguard headed by a gladiator named Jarvan.
"Hey, tough guys." greeted by Shyvana. The troops were surprised when they had the Seleana with them in a mission. "So… Who has a plan?"
"Got one, milady." said Jarvan with poise.
"Oh. You're Jarvan from the king's vanguard, aren't you? Your face is too fine to be stained in a battle." said Shyvana seductively.
"I like the way you say it, milady." replied Jarvan and chuckled.
Shyvana had a sort of fondness with Jarvan after they had their flirtatious conversation. They still went back to reality and Jarvan started to state his plan.
"Anyway, I thought of assaulting the Noxians later at midnight. They're all in their beds resting from their trainings that time, probably."
"You mean… guerrilla?" asked Shyvana.
"Nailed it." said Jarvan with composure. "And I want you, milady, to light the building up with your flames. As the soldiers scurry outside from the burning building bare-handed, we'll kick their asses."
That night, Jarvan and his team hid in the bushes around the site so that they can prepare for the ambush. Shyvana, using the back door of the building, sneaked inside and headed to the stockroom. Without making any noise, she snapped her fingers, made the room ablaze, and went outside the fortress in a hurry. The soldiers sleeping were awakened by the suffocating smell of a burning material and realized that their whole camp was already on fire. Some were trapped inside the scorching building and unfortunately were burned alive while the others managed to bring their weapons and escape.
"No more breakfast for you, sirs." mocked Jarvan. He and his troops then came out from the bushes.
"ATTACK!" shouted Jarvan and sieged the escaping soldiers along with his team.
The Noxians were forced to fight unreadily. Jarvan swung his scimitar upwards, managed to knock off a dozen of soldiers, and beat them to a pulp. He quickly lunged and sliced every sleeper he had seen. His soldiers overpowered the Noxian soldiers and likewise made the barbarians kiss the ground. The sneak attack was successful, turning the stronghold into ashes and leaving beaten-up Noxian soldiers. Shyvana was then impressed on Jarvan's fighting skills, making him as the apple of her eye.
Unfortunately, Shyvana did not know that Jarvan had a great affection for her sister Anivia. He admired her for she was majestic, very skilled, and of course was very cool to mingle with. But having the protection of the land as the first priority, Anivia was not ready to go out with other guys.
One night, Jarvan visited the Magi's Sanctum in order to meet Anivia. They walked along the corridors of the palace and later had a deep conversation.
Jarvan tried to impress Anivia with his presence and asked, "Elestra Anivia du Couteau, will you allow me to be your man? The man who will protect you, the man who will serve you, the man who will-"
"Apologies, milord." interrupted Anivia. Jarvan stopped on delivering his speech and was astonished when she said those words. Anivia said anxiously, "I am not ready yet. I swore to protect Valoran first before anything else. Milord, I-I cannot…"
Out of the blue, Shyvana entered the scene and saw the two together. Anivia knew that her sister liked Jarvan. The situation then became very awkward.
"Shyv, I-I can explain…" uttered Anivia uneasily.
Shyvana walked out right away from them, feeling hurt and erupting flames of envy and anger. Anivia told Jarvan to leave the place immediately and rushed to her sister to explain everything what she had seen.
Anivia caught up with her, grabbed her arm, and got her hand bruised as her sister flung it away. She felt a burn in her hand; probably it's from her sister's scorching cast. Shyvana confronted Anivia, flaming with rage and hatred.
"Why is it always you?! WHY?!" exclaimed Shyvana.
"W-w-what do you mean?" said Anivia with fear in her chest.
"Better skills, praises from Master Xerath, good impressions, Jarvan – you got all! Why do you always get everything?! Am I very worthless for I cannot achieve anything? TELL ME!" again exclaimed by the enraged Shyvana.
Anivia was shocked from her sister's question and uttered not a single word from her mouth. Shyvana then was frustrated from her sister's silence.
"That's it! I challenge you in a duel! I'll show everyone that I am able to do anything this time, even taking you down!" said Shyvana.
"H-hey, d-don't do this…" replied Anivia.
Shyvana blackmailed Anivia and said, "If you try to decline this duel, I'll kill myself. I would choose to be incinerated by my own flames rather than being hurt even more by everything of you. If you do not, be there at the Arcane Stadium tomorrow morning."
Leaving her undecided, Anivia accepted the challenge.
The next morning, the twin sisters arrived at their meeting place. Anivia was puzzled on what her sister was thinking in challenging her to this, but it seemed that she had no other choice but to fight. Not knowing how the news about the duel spread, people and even the Magi crowded the stadium to witness a great battle – a battle between the Seleana and the Elestra.
Getting fired up, Shyvana threw fireballs at Anivia but she managed to block them all by a large barrier made from ice. Anivia then threw ice daggers as a counterattack, but Shyvana melted them all in a big cone of fire. Thinking strategically and maintaining their stances, the two assaulted each other with their amazing nukes and skill shots. Fireballs and ice pellets, infernos and stalagmites, the great display of skills amazed the whole crowd.
In order to reduce the efficiency of Anivia's ice attacks and to astonish the crowd with her abilities, Shyvana set pillars of fire around the battlefield. This would melt Anivia's ice and even great spells could not counter those flames for they cost a large amount of Shyvana's energy.
"It's time to show what I've really got." boasted Shyvana.
Once again, people were amazed with the fiery scenery. Shyvana struck Anivia with bombarding flames continuously. Anivia felt weaker due to the flame pillars around the field. Shyvana then summoned a fleet of birds made from flames and unleashed them to attack. Anivia counterattacked by sending a large ice glacier to the fleet, resulting to a great blast. Unfortunately, few flame birds were able to penetrate the big chunk of ice and managed to damage Anivia directly. Anivia was hurt and was knocked down.
"Hey you, star pupil! Get up! You will not go down easily, won't you?" shouted Shyvana while catching her breath.
Anivia was able to return to her stance and saw Shyvana panting very deeply. The formation of pillars and her burst attacks had drained more than a half percent of her energy. Anivia thought of a plan to deplete Shyvana's energy in order to attack her vulnerably.
"That's what I'm talking about." said Shyvana.
"Bring it." replied Anivia complacently.
Shyvana started to attack once again. Anivia ran in circles and managed to dodge every attack her sister made. Shyvana became frustrated because her sister dodged almost all of her skill shots.
"C'mon! Be hit already!" cried Shyvana desperately.
She continued to shoot more and more and finally reached her limit. She worn out all of her energy and became exhausted. Her fire pillars disappeared; the crowd wondered what happened to the Seleana.
"Oh, shoot. Not now!" cried Shyvana while panting very deeply.
"I got you now, sister." said Anivia.
Anivia unleashed a torrential rain of ice pellets from the sky and hurled them at Shyvana. Shyvana received a lot of damage and got her lower body covered with a thick layer of ice, making her unable to move. Shyvana had no firepower left to melt the ice covering her body and eventually surrendered. The match had been decided and the Elestra dominated the Seleana. The people in the stadium had witnessed a really intense battle and gave cheers to the twins.
After the fight, Shyvana asked herself, "So I am really worthless, am I not?" She avoided eye-to-eye contact with people and rushed away from the scene, feeling depressed and humiliated.
Days passed but Shyvana still reminisced about her defeat. She really felt down to herself and cried whenever she thought that she was inferior to her sister.
"My strength is not enough. I want more than this. No, the most of this! I want to become stronger – stronger than anyone else in Valoran!"
One night, she headed to the forest of Ionia, where all mythical beasts were residing. She had the plan to eliminate all of them and return to Valoran with the bonetooth necklace of Rengar, the strongest beast in the forest.
A week after the duel, three guards of the kingdom urgently reported to King Garen.
"Your Majesty, Seleana Shyvana du Couteau is nowhere to be found both in her room and inside the palace as well." said an elite guard.
"What?!" shouted King Garen? "She couldn't be kidnapped by those pesky Noxians, hmm. Summon the other guards. Search for her trails. Find her immediately!" ordered the king.
"Yes, your Highness!" replied the guards.
Anivia, after defeating her sister in a battle in front of many people, still worried for her very much than anyone else.
"Sister, where are you?"
Some guards went deep into the woods to search for Shyvana, but they'd searched for something else – a large barracks occupied by siege weaponries and armed men probably preparing for a great war. Witnessing a Noxian flag on top of the structure, the men retreated in order to tell the king about what they'd seen.
"Noxus is preparing for a war against Valoran?!" cried the king.
"Affirmative, your Highness! We saw a large war mill deep in the woods. They're probably preparing to attack us in return for destroying their base at Lotus Marsh!" replied one of the scouts.
"After losing the Seleana, there comes another problem. Oh dear…" murmured the king.
King Garen commanded all the mighty warriors of Valoran to prepare for an all-out war against the Noxian armies. The strongest among the classes were assigned to lead specific armies. Jarvan was assigned to lead the army of melee fighters while Anivia was in charge of the mages in dealing burst damage to the enemy troops from far away.
After a month, Noxian soldiers marched towards Valoran to return the favour. The said army was led by Darius, the great commander of Noxus and the archenemy of King Garen. Valoran armies were waiting outside the vicinities of the kingdom, readily positioned to defend. Jarvan then positioned himself on the frontline.
"Valoran, the mighty Valoran! Have your dieties already given you guidance and pieces of advice? Meh, it doesn't matter. You'll be destroyed, anyway." mocked Darius and laughed.
"Watch your mouth, you ruffian. We're the one who'll destroy you." replied Jarvan.
"Oh really, kid? You're the one who better watch your mouth, then." Darius grinned and snapped his fingers, signalling the start of the assault.
Noxus initiates the battle by hurling a ballista bolt to the great wall of the kingdom. The wall was penetrated and Noxian armies started to attack. Valoran armies began to assault as well. Swords and axes clang; bolts and arrows fly; mages were heard chanting different magical rituals and some men were grunting from pain and were struck down.
Anivia casted a blizzard storm among the enemy troops and shattered almost a hundred of Noxian troops. Jarvan and his men, on the other hand, fought in melee combat with the brutes.
Darius targeted Jarvan as his prey and ferociously swung his axe towards him. Jarvan was able to defend himself with his scimitar.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho, you deflected it? You got skills, boy. Wanna show your remaining skills to me, huh? Just show me, I won't hurt you." taunted Darius, challenging Jarvan in a duel.
"Do not provoke me." replied Jarvan exasperatedly.
Both unleashed their skills in melee combat and clashed their weapons non-stop. Jarvan kept on unleashing his quick moves with his scimitar while Darius kept on swinging his axe one-handed to counter Jarvan's thrusts. After many clashes of their weapons, they became exhausted.
"I see that you are truly a tough fighter." implied Jarvan.
"Of course I am, kid. Don't think I am called as the Hand of Noxus for nothing." said Darius.
"Then perhaps, I should end this fight before the situations get worse."
"Is that so?"
"I'll show you how great to be helped by a deity in a battle."
Jarvan raised his scimitar and got his weapon shining. It seemed like there was the aid of a deity in his blade.
"Sword of Aatrox, this is my strongest ability. I got the essence of the god of war in my blade." Jarvan raised his blade and pointed it to Darius.
"Very impressive." complimented Darius. "I like how you pointed your shining sword to me. Now, let's test how strong you are."
Darius held his axe and positioned it in front of his chest.
"Destroy my axe with that sword. If you are able to penetrate my defence with it, you'll be able to stab my chest and kill me instantly." Darius seemed to put up Jarvan in a challenge.
Jarvan held his blade using his two hands and said, "I said… DO NOT PROVOKE ME!" With full force, Jarvan lunged towards Darius. Seeing Jarvan running towards him, Darius chuckled.
Unfortunately, Jarvan's attack was stopped by Darius' double-edged axe. The sword didn't even make a dent on the cleaver.
"T-this is impossible!" exclaimed Jarvan. "I got Aatrox within me, but-"
"Do you wanna know why are you going to die?" asked Darius. "It's because the one you are facing right now, boy…"
Darius flung Jarvan's sword and turned his body around holding his axe with one hand.
"…is a DEITY HIMSELF!" added Darius as he struck a lethal blow on Jarvan's shoulder, killing him on the spot.
Anivia witnessed Jarvan's fatal death and went very furious.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed.
Seeing Darius' axe with blood stains, she recklessly assaulted Darius with ice shards. With a swing of his axe, Darius was able to shatter them all. Anivia was filled with hurt and rage, just like her sister.
"Die, you filth! Die!" cried Anivia as she kept on shooting ice on Darius.
"Too much ice… IS NOT NICE!" exclaimed Darius angrily.
Darius let out a very powerful shock wave from his axe and severed the battlefield into two. Anivia was flung meters away by its tremendous force.
Darius walked towards her, letting out an evil laugh. Lying on the ground, Anivia was very terrified of his brute strength that she was not able to move a muscle. Darius stood up beside the terrified girl, grasping his blood-stained axe.
"I am very, very fortunate today." bragged Darius. "Killing the strongest mercenary of Valoran and the Elestra in just one day? This will make me LEGENDARY. HAHAHAHA!"
Anivia wanted to ask for someone's help but she could not speak. Darius started to raise his axe in a form that he's about to sever something.
"Help me, somebody! Please…"
"HELP ME!"
Darius was starting to strike Anivia when he got interrupted by a fireball hitting him. He was then thrown back.
"What's the matter, cupcake?" said by a familiar voice.
Anivia wondered where it came from and saw her sister Shyvana.
"Why the scorching hell are you lying there? You almost got split into two, you silly!" Shyvana scolded her sister.
Anivia chuckled for she saw that her sister had changed a little. She saw something hanging on Shyvana's neck.
"Hey, don't tell me it's-"
"Yep, it's the bonetooth necklace of Rengar." Shyvana interrupted. "I trained hard in the woods just to roast the wretched beast. It took me weeks to become stronger, you know!"
Anivia was glad because her sister finally knew how to be patient and hard-working. Feeling determined, she stood up, regained her "cool", and paired with her sister to defeat Darius.
Darius also stood up and looked for the one who attacked him with fire. He then saw the Seleana and the Elestra together. Darius started to brag again.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Am I being blessed by the deities too?! Even the Seleana came to party! HAHAHA! This'll be a blast! This'll make me even MORE LEGENDARY!" exclaimed Darius very devilishly.
"Hey, loud mouth!" teased Shyvana. "Do you want your dead body HOT or COLD?"
"Just shut up and be chopped by my axe, bitches!" Darius started to surge towards the two with very eagerness to kill them both. They split up and dodged his deadly assault. They threw skill shots at him, making him taste fire and ice at the same time.
"Wooohooo! It's time for the warm and cold air to collide!" bellowed Darius.
He whirled along with his axe in circles and imitated a tornado. He managed to counterattack all the skill shots the two had thrown and rashly devastated everything he passed through, even slicing the limbs of his own soldiers.
Shyvana and Anivia saw how destructive Darius' attack was. They scurried away from him, tried to hide in a barricade from a distance, and thought of a plan on how to defeat him.
"Dang, this guy's very strong. He's able to cause mass destruction with that! It could've shredded us if we didn't stay away!" exclaimed Shyvana astonishingly.
"He isn't the Hand of Noxus for nothing, sis. He indeed is a deadly monstrosity." said Anivia. "Now, how are we able to beat him?"
"I got a brilliant idea." said Shyvana. "Lure him with your ice as I finish charging my air assaults. As I finish, I'll show up in the sky and strike him. We'll raid him with fire and ice from above and below!"
"You mean… literally?" asked Anivia. "Do you even know how to fly?!"
Shyvana concentrated her energy and wings made from flames came out from her back.
"I learned this when I fought against the chimeras in the forest. It's hard to battle against flying enemies, you know."
"Good job, sis!"
"'Good job' me after we finish that brute off. Let's do it!"
Having trust in her sister's plan, Anivia then came up to confront Darius once more. This time, Shyvana was not in the battlefield.
"Where's the fire bitch?" asked Darius.
"It's none of your business." replied Anivia.
"Maybe she was afraid to fight anymore and let you die first. Nevermind, I'll hunt her after I'm done with you."
"Whatever, big blunt barbarian." Anivia closed her eyes, crossed her fingers, and started meditating.
"What the hell is that?!" Darius felt insulted on Anivia's move. "Don't act like a whimp in front of the Hand of Noxus, you ice scum!" Darius was ridiculed dashed to strike. He suddenly felt that the field got slippery. Anivia was done concentrating his powers and made the whole battlefield covered in ice.
"Glacial Field – enjoy walking in a smooth layer of ice." said Anivia.
Darius slipped and lost his balance. "Arghh, it's too slippery! Curse you, ice scum!"
Anivia struck ice shards on his legs. Darius tried to sever the ground once again by striking his axe but he didn't notice that his feet were totally frozen. The ice field continues to freeze his lower body.
"Damn this! My legs! I can't move!" complained Darius.
Very frustrated, he tried to get free but the layer of ice covering his legs was very thick. Shyvana then came to action; she had just finished charging her strongest ability.
"Did you miss me, tough guy?" said Shyvana.
"You're flying..."
"Oh, yes. I made these wings from my flames. Better take a good look at them. That's the last you are going to get."
Darius was extremely ridiculed. He got trapped by the ice prison and would be roasted by flames at the same time. He then shouted like he had no sanity anymore.
"You are not able to defeat me alone, bitches! You two are inter-dependent, weak, and fragile! You are no match against me! I'm the Hand of Noxus! I'm the STRONGEST! I AM LEGENDARY!"
"Like the old men say, milord." uttered Anivia. "Two heads are still better than one." She walked away from Darius' frozen chamber, making her sister take care of him.
"It's time to say bye-bye." Shyvana then released a giant phoenix from her hand and hurled it at the frozen Darius.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" This was his last word before being incinerated alive.
"Ashes to ashes." bragged Shyvana as she blew the flame on her finger.
Knowing that their leader was overkilled, the remaining Noxian soldiers retreated and the battle was won by Valoran.
After the great fray, the remaining warriors came back to their kingdoms to be treated to take some rest. Unfortunately, many warriors from both parties were annihilated, including Jarvan. When Shyvana knew what happened to him, she felt quite depressed.
"I apologize for everything, Shyv…" uttered Anivia. "…for what happened back then and for his death."
"It is not your fault, silly. It is mine after all. I was so insolent and hot-tempered back then which makes me rage like hell every time. Let's just forget about it and commemorate the heroism of our dear friend." replied Shyvana. Anivia smiled from her sister's reply and hugged her.
King Garen gave thanks to everyone who did everything to protect the city from the strong army of Noxus, especially to the twin sisters who managed to defeat the dreadful Darius. Once again, peace and tranquillity resided among the kingdom.
Legends were right after all - Valoran was indeed always aided by deities for it had always won its every battle; and the Seleana and the Elestra were indeed what the deities sent for help.
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