Sorry for the wait, been busy. Anyway, here's Fiora's arc...I'm so excited with this one (well, mainly because I want to get to the one after this...but that doesn't mean I'm going to zip through without doing my best!). Also, it gives me reason to work with my four years of French (something I rarely get to do!). It's been a couple years, so forgive me if my French is a little rusty.
Chapter 1
Pierre Meraux walked out the door onto the porch, standing on the edge of the patio and smiling as he watched his wife and daughter swim in the pool.
"Are we having fun there?" he called, getting the two women's attention.
"Come on in, Daddy!" his daughter, Victoria, grinned, waving, "The water's just fine!"
"Maybe next time," Pierre smiled.
"Oh, Pierre," his wife, Roselynn, snorted, "C'mon, just this once,"
Pierre gave a playful smirk and crossed his arms.
"You want me in that pool, then you'll have to get me, Rosie," he challenged.
"What do you think Victoria?" Roselynn hummed, think we can convince him?"
Victoria gave a smile and immediately surged out of the water, grabbing her father's ankle and dragging him into the water with her mother's help. Pierre came back up sputtering and spitting out water before grinning.
"C'mere you!" he grinned, grabbing the young twelve year old and dunking her under the water, laughing as he did.
Victoria squirmed out of his grip as her mother grabbed her father and pulled him under the water. When they resurfaced, Victoria sent a wave of water at them, laughing happily as they started splashing her back.
Life…was good.
Unfortunately, Life also had a way of messing everything up. For the next week, Captain Roselynn Meraux was called to fight for her country overseas.
Roselynn held her daughter close, kissing the girl's short brown hair as Victoria shook, crying. Pierre stood by his wife and daughter's side, waiting for his turn to say goodbye to his wife.
"You be a good girl," Roselynn murmured, holding her daughter at arm's length, "You do the best you can in everything you do, do you hear me?"
"Yes, Mama," Victoria mumbled and Roselynn brushed her hair away from her eyes.
"I have something for you," Roselynn told her, taking Victoria's hand and placing something in it, wrapping Victoria's slender fingers around the small object.
Victoria opened her hand…revealing the elegant rose-shaped pendant that her mother always wore.
"This was my great grandmother's," Roselynn told her, "It was the only thing she was able to bring out of France with her during the Second World War. She passed it down to her daughter, and from my grandmother to her daughter, and from my mother to me…and now, I give it to you,"
She stroked her daughter's cheek one last time.
"So you'll always know I'm with you, Victoria, ma petite rose," Roselynn smiled, hugging her daughter once more, "You be brave for me, alright? Never give less than your best,"
"I will, Mama," Victoria nodded as Roselynn let her go and hugged her husband, who then drew her into a long, lingering kiss.
"I will miss you terribly, ma chere," Pierre murmured as they broke off.
"And I you," Roselynn replied, "I'll write every day, Skype if I can,"
"We'll be waiting," Pierre promised as he put a hand on Victoria's shoulder, "Always,"
Four Years Later
Pierre watched as his daughter swam, she'd gotten stronger and faster since that day her mother left for the forces. It'd been four years and Roselynn was scheduled to come home for good later this year…
But Victoria had changed from the happy twelve year old Roselynn had seen before. She was cold towards her father, mainly because he tended to be more complacent with things as they were instead of being ambitious and going for the promotions as they popped up or things of that like. But, though neither wouldn't admit it…Pierre needed Victoria and Victoria needed her father.
Victoria surfaced, shaking droplets of crystalline brilliance from her water-blackened hair as she looked expectantly up at her father.
"Best time yet," Pierre told her, "Two minutes,"
"Not good enough," Victoria growled, berating herself, "I have to do better if I want that spot…"
"Victoria," Pierre tried to reason, kneeling down on the wet patio so that he was closer to his daughter, "You are already faster than the other girls on your team. Since Silvia graduated, you've been chasing this spot as the swim team's capitaine…you'll get it, I know you will,"
"You forget, the other girls have been working to get this spot as well," Victoria reminded him, "I'm going to be the captain of the swim team, I'm not letting anyone stop me,"
Pierre bit his lip, like her mother…Victoria was hard pressed to change her mind when she had it set on something. There was nothing he could do to stop her.
"Just, know you limits," he pleaded, making Victoria give a nod before diving back under the water and swimming, doing lap after lap…
And he timed her, lap after lap, hoping and praying she'd know when to stop.
Today was the day, today, Victoria Meraux would become captain of the swim team…at least, that's what Victoria kept telling herself. There was nothing that was going to stop her from achieving her goal. Nothing. She'd practiced too hard just to let someone else take her place. She looked up at the stand, seeing her father holding his ever-present video camera just so he could capture the moment she became a winner.
"Swimmers, take your marks!" the coach called and Victoria tensed, ready to leap into the water and to glory.
It was her time now…
The coach fired the starter's pistol. Victoria leaped forwards, sliding into the water smoothly and easily, just as she practiced. She stayed down as long as she could only to resurface and power forwards, her arms slicing through the water precisely and gracefully until she reached the next wall. She dove under the water, using her feet to push off the wall and towards the starting wall. She kept pushing herself faster and faster…she lost track of which wall she was at when she pushed off. Her lungs screamed for air, but she couldn't…just a little longer…
Suddenly, her head collided with something hard, whatever breath she had left rushed out in a flurry of silver bubbles, and the edges of her vision started going dark. She started to sink, eyes fluttering closed as she hit the pool's bottom. It was so peaceful…
And she let go right as a hand grabbed her shoulder and swam upwards with her.
Victoria was awoken by the sound of ringing metal and of laughter. Her dark blue eyes blinked open as she found herself standing in a high-ceilinged room with a rose-like design embossed on the stained glass window before her.
"Beautiful isn't it?" a male voice asked, making Victoria whirl around.
"Who are you?" she demanded as she spotted a man in a dark suit and fedora.
"My name is Andrew Summers," the man, Andrew, replied, "You're Victoria Meraux, correct?"
"Yes…" Victoria started warily, "What's going on…where am I?"
"You were in a horrible accident," Andrew told her, "You nearly drowned and have head trauma on top of that. They don't expect you to live much longer. You've been in a coma since the accident."
"Then how are you talking to me?" Victoria demanded, "If this is all in my head,"
Andrew shook his head.
"Third time this has happened," he chuckled, "You have to love technology and its advancements. I told your father that I would ask you personally. He agreed with me…but he wanted your opinion, saying it would supersede all other judgements,"
"And that is?" Victoria asked.
"You're familiar with League of Legends, correct?" he asked.
Of course, she still played every once in a while. She and her father would play together whenever she wasn't training herself and he wasn't at work…which was very rare.
"In order to save your life, there's an experimental process that will make you a Champion," Andrew continued "One…one Champion has chosen you…as in, she agreed to let you become her,"
"And who would be crazy enough to do that?"
"First Cira, then Zayne, now you," Andrew muttered to himself, "Something with the Project Chosens I swear…"
"I will take it from 'ere, Andrew," a French-accented, female voice started as a slender figure walked into the room.
"…Fiora?" Victoria blinked
The Grand Duelist gave a laugh, resting her hand easily on her rapier's hilt and nodding. She turned to Andrew, cocking her head slightly.
"Andrew, may I 'ave a moment alone with 'er?"
The man gave a nod and left the Grand Duelist with her Chosen by themselves.
"You Chose me?" Victoria asked, "Why?"
Fiora smiled.
"You 'ave zat same determination and perfectionist air about you zat I do," she admitted, "Your spirit is why I Chose you, Victoria,"
"And if I refuse your offer?" Victoria questioned.
Fiora closed her eyes, looking down at the floor.
"Zen you will die," she said softly, "You will not recover from your drowning,"
Victoria frowned, she wanted to live…but as a Champion? The options weren't exactly something she liked. Either die by drowning or fight for the League and die multiple times only to come back each time.
"Zere is something else you must know if you say yes," Fiora told her, "But I do not know what it is, Andrew will 'ave to tell you. And he specifically said he wanted to tell you alone…without me 'ere,"
"I want to talk to him," Victoria replied, "Then I'll decide,"
"At once," Fiora nodded, her graceful, precise strides taking her out of the room faster than Victoria thought possible.
Andrew re-entered the room, looking at Victoria to judge if she'd said yes or no yet.
"Fiora said you had something to tell me if I said yes," she started.
"So you've agreed,"
"Not yet…I want to see if I should or not,"
Andrew gave a nod and sighed.
"If you say yes to this," he started, "There's something you should know about Fiora. She and five other human Champions are…well…they're not so much human anymore,"
"What do you mean?"
"You've seen the Project skins, right?"
Victoria nodded.
"Some of the best skins I've seen," she told him, "Been trying to get Fiora's for ages,"
"You know the story though,"
"I think someone said it was an alternate future for Runete…" she stopped as Andrew shook his head.
"Not alternate future," Andrew told her, "The Projects were kidnapped and turned into what they are. They're not human anymore…at least not fully. When Yi destroyed the lab, Yasuo and Leona weren't finished yet…hence why they look the most human. Yasuo has little outbursts of rage, Leona suffers from a form of PTSD, Yi can't remember, Lucian has scars, Zed is a complete psychopath and Fiora…"
He gave a sigh and looked at Victoria.
"Fiora doesn't feel anything, her emotions are next to none when she changes. She does what she's told, but other than a few scathing remarks, there's no…life in her. We've been trying to figure out how to fix it,"
"So if someone chooses that skin for her…she's going to be more machine than person, isn't she?" Victoria asked, to which Andrew nodded.
"And there's one other thing," Andrew told her, "If you choose this path…that will be your form. You will look like her Project form 24/7. We have something that will make you look human, it works…but if you're summoned, get as far away from other humans that don't know as possible,"
"You talk like you know what you're doing…" Victoria stated.
"We've done this seven other times," Andrew told her, "And two of them were Projects. I can't tell you who they were…you'll meet them soon enough, one of them especially. The question is…do you accept being Grand Duelist?"
Victoria heard the door open and Fiora walked back in, her icy blue eyes watching the two carefully, calculating. The young girl watched as Fiora's form flickered slightly, revealing gunmetal-colored armor with bright pink accents, a glass visor covering Fiora's too pale face, and the short, stark white hair that was swept back as if the wind had taken hold of it. But as quick as it came, the flicker was gone and the black-haired Grand Duelist stood once more with her hand on her rapier's hilt.
The Earth child looked at Andrew and then at Fiora with grim determination set in her young face.
"I accept," Victoria answered, "I will become the Grand Duelist, the head of House Laurent,"
The one who saved Victoria was her father. He saw that she didn't come up and he dove in despite the others trying to stop him. They didn't realize Victoria was drowning, they thought he was trying to disrupt the other swimmers so she could win. I don't know what'll be next, but I do know that Victoria will be going to Valoran.
What Champion
Character's name ( 1st and last)
Family?
Physical Description
Personality
How did they become the Champion(why did the Champion choose them and what were the circumstances that made the Champion choose to bond with the character? *doesn't have to be tragic accident, but I still want to know why they're the new Champion*)
Champions already taken:
Leona: me
Kindred: The Kitsune Girl Ahri
Gragas: RoboticFreeze
Diana: MMiladinova
Jinx: minifox1
Kayle: sop56
Fiora: Oceanbourne
Pantheon: boyfriend
Viktor: ckies
Shen & Zed: HLZB
Tahm Kench: Tourvelix
Wukong: Unbiased Friend
Rek'Sai-TheFallenGeneral
Kog'Maw-Croziff
Nasus & Renekton-Hero LumiEre Luminite (brother characters)
Quinn-TheDecieverOfLumosity
Talon-HyperZEROXL
Bard-amohugz
Lux-Runty Grunty
Varus-Kage Sunaipa
Draven & Darius-mooseman3
Riven-Blazingfire5
Udyr-Zoozibble
Ashe-UntimelyDisease
Braum-Hairy
Sona-GrezzWizard
Veigar-sylver9895
Nocturne-TheSmilingMask
Kalista-friend of mine
Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please let me know!
Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)
Máriessë ar mára tecië
Farewell and fair writing
Elhini Prime signing off.