Time passed, as Riven sat alone, her only company her reflection in her drink. The great hall slowly emptied, the noises of people fading into white noise. A tentative tap on her shoulder jerked her back into reality with a gasp. Zac stood behind her, a worried look on his face. "You've been sat there for an hour. You okay, Miss Riven?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice. Riven gently rubbed at her temples with the first two fingers on each hand, trying in vain to suppress the growing alcohol headache. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for waking me up." she said, a small smile showing.
"Great! Glad to help." grinned Zac, the worry gone. He turned and began walking away, with such joy in his step he appeared to be bouncing.
"Oh, and Zac?" called Riven, causing him to turn around. "Call me Riven."

Zac nodded with his signature grin and left, leaving Riven to push herself to her feet. Been up 2 hours and I'm already getting drunk, she thought bitterly, cursing herself silently for her weakness.
She left the great hall, deciding on a visit to the Institutes's library. Her solitude have given her a passion for reading, something to fill those, cold, lonely nights in the Valorian countryside and in dark, low-key inns. She walked through the hallways, the standard traffic of Summoners in their black robes, Institute employees in robes of varying colours, or occasionally a champion. She noticed that all the doors were much bigger than a human would ever need, but having seen some of the Institutes occupants, she surmised that it was probably to compensate for them. As if to validate her theory, the huge rock creature she had seen in the great hall earlier passed through one of the huge doors, heading off down one of the corridors. She couldn't help but smile as she saw Summoners and employees alike quickly move out of the giants path.

A short time later, She arrived at the great gilded doors of the great library. She hesitantly knocked on the door, unsure if the library was even open. No response was heard. With a small frown, Riven turned and began walking away, before the huge doors were pulled open. A deep, slow voice that oozed wisdom echoed from within its confines; "Enter."
Riven slowly stepped into the dark library, her eyes slowly adjusting to the lack of light.
She blinked rapidly, trying to bring the room into focus. The door closed behind her, throwing the room into deeper darkness. To her surprise, she found that she could see better. The deep voice echoed again. "The light outside was affecting your sight."
Riven looked around for the source of the voice, when her eyes widened in surprise. A huge, dog-like humanoid had rounded the corner of one of the titanic bookshelf's, and strode towards her, sitting down in an oversized chair. "You... are our new champion, correct?" spoke the creature, smiling as best as its snout would allow.
Riven shook her head almost imperceptibly, shaking out her shock. "Y..yeah. My names Riven."
"You are not the first person to be intimidated by my size. But you need not fear, I will never harm those who do not deserve it." laughed the Dog. "My name is Nasus; I am the keeper of this great library. I believe your world would call me a librarian. What brings you here today, Riven?"
"I need a book to pass the time. Something fiction, preferably." said Riven, looking round at the great stacks of books.
Nasus looked at Riven for a second, before standing up and moving away through the library. A moment later, he returned, a book grasped in his huge paws. "I think this will suit you."
He offered the book into Riven's hands, who took it and hugged it to her chest. Jesus it's big; he made it look like a feather! she thought.
"The tales of a Piltovarian prince. A wonderful story." explained Nasus, sitting back down at his chair. He stared at Riven for a second again, before leaning forwards in his chair and clasping has hands together, resting his elbows on his knees. "I can see it in your eyes. What troubles you, my child?" spoke Nasus, softly.
Riven remained silent, averting her eyes.
"You can trust me. Whatever you say goes no further than this room." said Nasus, concernedly
Riven's mind flashed back 4 years, to walking along with her military friends. Laughing, joking. She remembered Serena and Joseph's crush on each other, and everyone in the unit trying to get them to confess it to each other. She remembered Ardyn falling face first in the swamp, marching for the rest of the day looking like a swamp demon. She saw them all in an Ionian field, all smiles and friendship. She saw them again in the same Ionian field, burned and burning, dead and dying, the Zaunite chemicals wreaking havoc on their bodies. She saw Joseph cradling Serena as she screamed in agony, before they were both immolated by a shot from a Zaunite melter. She saw herself scrambling to get away from the chaos, her hands and feet slipping in wet mud. It hadn't rained that day. She came back into the present, tears running down her cheeks. "No, I cant trust you. I can't trust anyone." With that, she fled from the library, people looking at her as she ran, sobbing. A few tried to stop her, to help, but she shrugged them off and ran. Ran like she'd done 4 years ago.