Three years later. . .
Irelia walked through the Serene Garden in the Placidium toward the Jade Dragon, a tea shop that Karma wanted Irelia to meet her at. She wore her captain's uniform as usual, the red and white armor shining brightly under the glow of the sun. Her mantle of decorum, Ionia's highest honor, was floating behind her midnight blue hair that was blowing in the wind.
The Serene Garden was home to most of Ionia's events, and if you didn't know your way around it would be easy to get lost among the trees, the variety of flowers, shrines, and various alcoves that provided a decent amount of privacy. Like most of the Placidium it was expertly maintained, and most Ionians knew their way around the gardens from festivals so it wasn't often people got lost. The gentle breeze, beautiful scenery, and sweet aroma from the flowers relaxed Irelia, melting away all the stress from her day. Irelia made a mental note to herself to come back later and find a good place to meditate in private. Fall was quickly approaching and in a few weeks it would be too cold to meditate outside.
After a few minutes of walking Irelia arrived at the tea shop. While it wasn't particularly big it was still larger than your average tea shop due to its private rooms in the back. The private rooms, along with their tea, were what made the shop a popular meeting place for officials. As Irelia walked inside she was greeted by a waitress dressed in a simple black and white Ionian dress. The dress went from her knees up to her shoulders where it met her black hair. As Irelia approached the counter, the woman gave a small bow and greeted her.
"Greetings Captain Lito, we have been expecting you, please follow me."
Irelia followed the waitress as she led her passed a few rows of dark wooden tables towards a line of rooms in the back. Their entrances were covered by hanging black curtains that went down to Irelia's knees. The waitress held the curtains open for Irelia and left shortly after she entered the room. As Irelia entered the room she noticed that while the curtains were dark on the outside, providing little vision into the room, on the inside she could easily see out of them into the tea shop from the other side.
Irelia gave Karma a bow as she entered the room, a common Ionian courtesy, before being welcomed by Karma.
"Greetings Irelia, it is nice to see you. I hope you don't mind, I ordered tea already." Karma's voice was soothing as she gestured towards the tea kettle in the middle of the table.
Karma wore a purple dress that went up to her neck but skipping over her shoulders with a white shirt overtop of her mid-section that covered her stomach and the sides of her waist while her mantle of decorum gently floated behind her. Whereas Irelia's mantle was militaristic, Karma's was two jade dragons in a circle which was the symbol of Ionia. Like a lot of southern Ionians Karma's skin was bronze, opposite of Irelia who was fairly pale.
Irelia waved a hand dismissively as she took a seat, "Not at all, I'm glad you did, I rather like your taste in tea." Irelia responded, before filling her cup with tea.
"I'm sorry for calling you here so abruptly, but I need your help dealing with some issues in the southern provinces."
Irelia knew what Karma was talking about without even asking. A few months ago she helped take back the southern provinces that Noxus had claimed when invading Ionia. While they were able to drive out the majority of the Noxian army, there was still some groups of soldiers leftover who formed mercenary bands in the mountains and surrounding forests. They survived through robbing small trading caravans, travelers, and terrorizing local villages.
Karma continued, "Recently I have been in communication with an ex-Noxian who is interested in helping us deal with these mercenaries."
Irelia's face was a mixture of skepticism and confusion, before she could respond Karma reached into her robe, pulled out a letter, and slid it over to Irelia. She stared at it for a few moments before opening it up. The handwriting was barely legible, and Irelia ended up reading over it multiple times to make sure that she read it correctly.
The letter was from an ex-member of the Noxian military interested in staying in Ionia as a way of hiding from Noxus and their assassins. Irelia didn't know too much about Noxus, but she did know that they didn't take kindly to deserters, so it made sense they would want a safe haven from Noxus. In exchange for their protection, they were willing to give Ionia information about the mercenaries and help wipe them out. While Irelia realized that they didn't have much choice, considering they were having issues wiping the mercenaries out, she still didn't like it.
"How do we know we can trust this Noxian, that they aren't leading us into an ambush or that we aren't being used to further their own goals?" Irelia commented with skepticism.
Karma let out a sigh and responded, "We don't, frankly I don't like it much more than you do. However our people are suffering out there, and if there is even a shred of hope that this will work we owe it to them to at least try."
Irelia crossed her arms thinking, Karma has a point, I don't like it but we can't stand idly by as our people suffer. We would need a small party to avoid drawing suspicion, especially since we would be heading by The Dark Sovereign's fortress. She has been keeping to herself, but that may change if she sees another army and think we are attacking her again. After the last time the military attacked her four months ago, she ripped the temple out of the ground and turned it into a floating fortress. After a bit of pondering Irelia sighed and finally responded.
"Alright, how do we get ahold of this Noxian?"
Syndra sat letting her legs dangle off the edge of her floating fortress as she watched the sun disappear over the horizon. She was wearing her pajamas which consisted of a purple baggy shirt and some comfy black shorts. Syndra wasn't sure when, but at some point watching the sunset from her garden had become a habit for her. Syndra wasn't the type of person to have a routine, but she found that she enjoyed the view too much to ignore it. Though tonight she found that she couldn't enjoy it as much as she usually did, she could feel someone watching her. She felt the intruder arrive a few minutes ago, but when she turned her head to address them they disappeared into the shadows of her balcony and hadn't moved since. Syndra didn't get many visitors at her fortress so she already had a clue as to who sent them.
"It's rude to stare you know" Syndra called out still staring out towards the setting sun.
When Syndra was only met with silence her expression morphed into one of annoyance. Syndra pulled her left leg up to where she was sitting and placed her chin into the palm of her hand. Just as stubborn as your master, she thought to herself.
"I know you're hiding back there. My magic is embedded into this fortress, no one touches it without me knowing." Annoyance seeping into Syndra's voice.
Syndra sighed, I guess we have to do this the hard way. Without looking, Syndra reached her arm behind her in a wide arc and used her magic to grab ahold of the figure hiding in the shadows and brought him dangling over the ledge in front of her. Syndra wasn't surprised when she found that it was one of Zed's shadow ninjas dangling in front of her.
"If Zed wants to tell me something, why doesn't he just come and tell me in person?" Syndra asked the dangling shadow ninja. Said ninja didn't respond but merely reached into his uniform with a shaky hand and pulled out a piece of paper that they then handed to Syndra.
Syndra rolled her eyes as she accepted the note, "What does a girl have to do to get a decent conversation around here, you ninjas never say anything when you visit." Deciding that she wasn't going to get any information out of the ninja she lowered him down towards the ground and dropped him into the lake below her fortress.
"Now don't you think that was a bit harsh?" A sarcastic and deep voice said from behind Syndra.
This time Syndra adjusted herself and looked up into a tree behind her to see Zed's shadow sitting in a branch staring back at her. Syndra didn't like Zed's shadow; it didn't have a physical form so she couldn't feel its presence, and whenever she talked to the shadow it usually didn't have anything pleasant to say.
"Well maybe if your other half would come to see me in person, or he would send someone who I could have a decent conversation with, they would return home dry. Instead I get these mimes who think they can hide from me in my home, and instead of telling me what they want like a normal person they just hide in trees and balconies all night." Syndra ranted.
The only response Syndra got was a chuckle from Zed's shadow before it disappeared. Syndra could never be sure if Zed's shadow acted independently or of Zed's own will. Whenever she tried to press Zed about it he always told her it was under his control, but the more Syndra got to know Zed and his shadow, the more she found it harder to believe.
Syndra sighed as she laid back and stared up at the night sky, alone again completely forgetting about the note from Zed. Syndra didn't mind being alone, but sometimes even she wanted some companionship; or at least a decent conversation every once in a while.
After deciding that she wanted to visit a city soon, Syndra got excited upon remembering that the Harrowing was coming up. While Syndra didn't like the elders of Ionia, she didn't mind the cities or people as a whole. It wasn't unusual for her to sneak into them every once in a while, especially during festivals. While the people of Ionia feared her, Syndra quickly realized that most people didn't know actually know what "The Dark Sovereign" really looked like, especially without her headdress.
Syndra decided that she was going to retire, happy that she had something to look forward to.
A/N: So I decided that I wasn't going to include the Institute of War in this series, so Ionia never challenged Noxus to a league match to get their land back. Instead they had to take it back themselves in this story.
Also shoutout to meltedjujubees for giving me permission to use her idea of Zed's shadow being sentient; and my girlfriend Midnightfluff, for reviewing and helping this chapter.
Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and gave a review! If there was anything that you liked or think I can improve on be sure to let me know!
