Congruency

6 October, 20 CLE

I awoke. It felt as if something was different in my room, my furniture hadn't moved, and everything remained exactly where I had left it before I slept, but...

I quickly got up and checked my door. It was still locked. I had a feeling only described as that stereotypical, "something was scratching at the back of my head" and yet I couldn't place what was off.

Summoners weren't permitted to harbor any extravagances in their living quarters, unlike the champion's they summoned. Every summoner had a room at the Institute, and each room comprised of a bed, nightstand, wardrobe, bathroom, lounge, a small kitchen, and the articles that accompanied them such as linens, kitchen utensils, plates, and our traditional purple summoner's robes. Of course, personal effects such as pictures of home and loved ones were allowed.. but ultimately everything had to be kept so simple, that I've heard Ionian monastery cells are luxurious compared to that of a summoner's room. The only way a summoner could acquire additions to his/her room was by performance on the fields of justice, this was the league's way of promoting achievement instead of complacency with mediocrity (which a few summoners were known for). But for all my achievement, I had only acquired a fireplace, a chandelier, and a desk. The chandelier did not accentuate any part of my room besides the fact that it did not belong in the first place.

My gaze shifted over to my desk, and a letter resided. Did I put it there before I went to sleep? I didn't recall conjuring it. I felt my trivial questions would be answered if I just read it. It read:

"All the necessary preparations have been made. Meet me at the inner summoning platform for our first 'game'. Do not disappoint. Wear the proper attire suitable for a summoner of Noxus -J.S."

I should have figured Swain would send me a letter immediately after our first encounter, he's got an agenda... I guess I should feel lucky to be a part of it. The letter was fairly plain except for an ornately inked rose in the bottom right hand corner of the parchment, must be his insignia.

What did he mean by "proper attire suitable for a summoner of Noxus"? Every summoner only has purple robes (except for the founders), and unless I was mistaken, there isn't a way to "achieve my way" to an altered garment. But when I opened my wardrobe I was surprised to see that I had a new robe, it matched Swain's green and gold but it didn't have armor like his did. Why would us summoners need armor anyway when we can summon beings like Alistar to fight for us? On the robes was a note that read: "I'm 5 steps ahead of you." Which cleansed my fears of wearing this "illegal cloth."

I never imagined being Swain's prime summoner would have perks like this. Ryze's summoner definitely had bonuses to his mana efficiency, I had no clue if Annie even had anything to offer, Mordekaiser's had some kind of otherworldly presence that made him impossible to ignore (the guy was a jerk too), but these robes made everything feel slightly slower around me. Would it be cheating to use them on the field? Can't possibly, because the league nullifies any kind of abnormality when transfered to the fields. But enough admiration, it was time to prove myself.

I made haste to the inner summoning platform.

I was early. Always am for the games. To some the fields of justice are battles or political disputes. For others, such as myself, they are games.

The Inner summoning platform was located in the caverns underneath the league. This area made it the most stable summoning platform in the institution because of its proximity to the core ley line the building was erected upon. The marble columns added a nice ambiance as well. Swain was here. It was customary for new champions to view the summoning platform they would be linked to for their first "battle". It was unbelievably difficult to get a read off his face. I could never tell what he was thinking about.

"Your competition doesn't look to be troublesome Swain. The opposing summoners look to be in agreement on their champion selection... but your presence here is unnerving them. I sugge-"

"Well look who decided to grace us all with his presence." Of course he is here...

" ...What do you want Magnus?"

"Oh not much, just wanted to congratulate you on your coming defeat at the hand of the Master of Metal and his Prime. Maybe some taunting as well. But not much really."

Swain started moving around, looking for something. Both him and Beatrice were unfazed by Magnus' mocking, and oddly enough.. even his presence.

"Who's the crippled man with the lanky bird? Is that who you're summoning? Pathetic." I could sense slight frustration in his words when he noticed that he might as well been mute to Swain. "And nice robes... green and gold go well on the both of you. Almost as well as how blood will look staining them when Morde and I are done mopping up the fields with your corpses."

I didn't say anything, best to let skill and strength speak for me like they have in games before, but Magnus was still a force to be reckoned with. Mordekaiser was a monstrous being of pure metal and held control over otherworldly vibrations, he even had supporters in the southern regions of Runeterra... I forget how their primitive battle cry went.

Magnus was about to continue his relentless taunting when Swain stopped moving, lifted his cane about a foot off the ground and brought it down on the marble floor of the summoning platform. The reverberations were deafening, echoing throughout the cavern. The summoners on the platform stopped mid-sentence of their conversations, even Magnus did. Swain just turned his head to follow the sound as if to pinpoint where the waves bounced against the rocks. Then he stopped... slowly turning his gaze to Magnus. I don't think I've ever seen Magnus... unnerved before. He did a good job of hiding it but I knew what to look for on his expression. And what he saw shocked me even more, if Swain wasn't wearing cloth in front of his face to conceal his mouth, I could have swore he was grinning.

"Bring your master, summoner." Beatrice cawed at her owner's daring statement.

Magnus' gaze hadn't left Swain's. Swain seemed to have him enthralled by... something, but I didn't detect any magic being used.

"What... are you?"

Magnus was released and lost his motor functions. As he struggled to get up he covered his face with his hood and I could hear him gasping for breath as he fled back to his team's side of the platform. Everyone was disturbed, except the master tactician and his bird.

Then the floors lit up as the official warning sign of commencement. The games were about to begin.

I shook off all distractions as my team made their final preparations. Swain stood behind me and looked past my shoulder to view what was unfolding. My teammates were strangers, but they were all hand picked from the institute to guarantee a competitive first game. I became incredibly excited, knowing what approached. Champions and summoners link minds during battle. They speak telepathically to one another and they read each others' thoughts. I knew, once I saw Swain's judgement before the league, that one day I would summon him... but I did not expect to be his prime and be the first to do so for his inaugural battle. What would I see? What does he think about? One by one, questions began to come across my mind. I stopped myself just to scoff in disbelief; hoping that yet another match wouldn't occur when every summoner chooses flash and ignite as their trademark spells.

The link was manifesting itself to Swain's mind simultaneously as our sight became warped to summoner's rift. I could sense Swain leaving behind me as I summoned him to the fountain.

Our minds began to link.

I saw... darkness. Darkness that wasn't cold or terrifying, but calm and curious. Was I in Swain's mind? Everything was black and becoming dismal quickly; I held out my arms but I could not see them anymore. This darkness now threatened to engulf me completely. My attempts to scream out in terror were silenced.

I then saw a figure of a woman in the dark with me. I felt I had to protect her; she needed safety from this blackness. The woman grew pale, and began to wobble back and forth as if she could barely hold herself up. I had to hold her, but the darkness was constricting me as I struggled against it. She spoke to me. Pleaded for me to just let go, but I wouldn't. As the dark wrapped around my mouth... I let go, and sank away into the black. I closed my eyes and felt cold then. Even when the black began to dissipate and overwhelming light surrounded me, I still felt cold. What brought me warmth was when my eyes finally opened I beheld the girl who needed my help. She was lying in my lap with her arms wrapped around me, no longer pale and staring at me with eyes of jade.

My vision faded and I was back at the summoning platform. My teammates had chosen to select Nasus, Master Yi, Ezreal, and Nidalee. I was struggling to realign my link to Swain, who waited patiently on the fountain for my return... he must already know what just happened. Nasus proceeded to the top lane of the rift, Ezreal and Nidalee to the bottom, and Yi took to the jungle. Leaving Swain and I to govern the mid lane. I reconnected my link to Swain, fearing the vision I had moments ago potentially returning, while he waited. Our thoughts coincided again, he knew what was on my mind but refused to acknowledge it.

"The minions have already spawned, if you aren't in shape to lead then I will instead."

Swain limped to middle lane after purchasing Doran's ring, while I did everything I could to regain absolute focus. We would be put up against Mordekaiser in our lane, with their Taric and Tristana in bottom lane, Udyr in the jungle, and Shen against Nasus in the top lane.

"Prove to me that you have the strength on these pitiful fields that Noxus deserves."

"I have what is necessary, and right now we're going to act defensively to evaluate the tactics that Magnus employs."

"Impeccable decision"

We proceeded to only use killing blows on the enemy minions instead of whittling them down. When asked by Swain the reason to why we were doing this, I told him that it benefits us to let the little guys do all the work while we claim the reward. In the end, it would bring us to victory. Swain said he couldn't agree more.

As we gave Mordekaiser the impression that he was denying us in our lane, we gained an edge on him... letting Magnus' overconfidence be his undoing. Once he paused to verbally assault us I motioned for Master Yi to begin his attack on him from the flank. Using Beatrice to decrepify Morde, Swain and I were able to land a snare on him... sealing his fate as Yi jumped him with an alpha strike. Morde had been brought low by my ignite and Swain's torment as he futilely flashed to safety. I could hear Magnus' anguished cries from across the platform, who knows what his champion was making him feel for his incompetence.

"Now we need to monopolize on our lead. Morde will not remain down for long. I suggest we recall to the fountain and purchase more items."

"An efficient strategy"

As we recalled, my mind surged back to the images I saw when first connecting to Swain's mind, why was-

"Irannius, a Noxian does not dawdle."

"My apologies Swain... let's get back to the lane then."

As the match progressed, the magical dams that blocked each champion's true potential had begun to wane... Swain always seemed an eerie sort, but what was his true power like? I had to find out. As Morde and Udyr attempted to mimic what we did to Magnus earlier upon us, I unleashed Swain's full potential.

It was a nightmarish display.. his body twisted and writhed until he became some sort of horrifying, raven, monster. From under his feathers he sent forth birds which picked at the flesh of Morde and Udyr as they fought furiously to get to Swain. But each bird brought pieces of the champions' essences back to their master, nourishing him and fortifying his health. I became too focused now to give any mind to Swain's grotesque imagery, fear was a tactic I could use... and as I thought that, I heard Swain begin to laugh. Mordekaiser's attempts to run only served as his downfall. Without a shield to mitigate my assault, he fell... giving Udyr our complete attention we dropped him down as well with our spells. In an instant I reverted Swain back to his original form after the slaughter had ended. Swain regained his composure and grip on his cane while his eyes dilated.

The enemy team realized two of their champions had fallen to only one of ours, the need to support the lane we now assailed was imperative. The enemy fortified the middle lane with their presence and my team rushed to my aid as well. Neither side wished to make a move towards the other, an intangible line had been drawn and this stalemate... bored me.

"I imagine you wish to go back and re-think tactics?" Swain's statement succeeded to goad me.

"I intend on ending this now."

I transformed Swain once again and led the charge through the middle lane, flashing forward into the enemy ranks. I decrepified Tristana and placed my snare under Shen so he would not compel us to fight him. Nasus rushed forth from behind me and withered Tristana, limiting her escape options as my team took her out. Morde returned and the champion himself seemed to have full control over his actions, rather than split with Magnus, and he bashed up into Swain's side with his mace, piercing skin with its spikes. Swain didn't voice any pain but instead held the mace, forcing Mordekaiser to stand still as he was picked away at by the ravens. With their two greatest damage dealers on their team pacified, the battle was a sweep. Ezreal was given an absolute perfect opportunity to fire his ultimate move, the Trueshot Barrage, straight through all of the enemy champions. I glanced over to the enemy summoning platform, and all but Magnus had dropped their hands and left. A twenty minute surrender. With the match ended, I finished my summoning incantations and Swain reappeared behind me.

Distractions finally out of the way, I felt I now had the best chance at asking Swain about what I experienced when tapping into his mind.

"I have to know something-"

"Yes you were in my mind at that time, but prior I happened to be in yours... I believe you felt my curiosity for all of... five seconds."

"Well what was-"

"I have entertained enough of your questions for today. It was... pleasant... to be victorious so swiftly. My trust in you is not unfounded." He began to hobble away, turning his back to me. Beatrice didn't want to entertain my questions either, if its even possible for a bird to do that.

"Who was the girl?"

Swain stopped, Beatrice didn't move as well. Then Swain turned his head as if to say something, but abandoned the notion and continued walking away.