The three soldiers appeared a bit above the ground, dropping into crouches.

"This reminds me of the invasion," Riven said. "You can smell the death in the air, the poison eating away at the plants...it's horrible."

"But this is different," Irelia said, yanking a blackened plant out of the ground. "During the war, you could see clouds of chemicals everywhere. Now, there's nothing except this puddle of purple...ick..."

"Where was Kennen supposed to meet us?" Zeke asked.

"Just over the hill right there. Summoners were off target, but it's within their normal error margin for a journey this size."

"Take out the shield, Zeke. Let's go." The three jogged over the hill. Kennen waited, wearing a traditional Ionian kimono that he looked extremely uncomfortable in.

"HEY guys. Glad YOU made it!" yelled Kennen. "The locals say this stuff appeared out of nowhere last night. They did think they saw some guy running around hunting, but that's perfectly normal. So what do you think is going on, Irelia?"

"Well, I don't think this fits the profile of a typical Void attack; they tend to focus on eating things, but there's nothing eatable left here. No, I think that this is some threat from within Ionia. Are there any temples around here?" Irelia asked. Zeke stood around, feeling out of the loop. Seeing the shield and dagger in his hands and knowing the pair of Zeals were on his back, he felt strangely bold and courageous.

"Well, the Shojin Monastery is a few miles to the west, and to the south is the Ionian capitol-"

"Not THAT kind of temple, Kennen," Riven cut in. "We're looking for some sort of place where they keep 'dark secrets that must never be revealed' or whatever that translates to in Ionian."

"Now that I think about it, there is..." Kennen suddenly stiffened.

"What is it?" Zeke asked.

"Tera no Fuhai. It's pretty far away, but it's next to a village that was destroyed during the Noxian invasion; back then, the Noxians tried to seize it, only to be slain. Their bodies were filled with arrow wounds that didn't have arrows in them, and they were found in purple goo just like the stuff over there."

"Let's go." Zeke said. Kennen took two steps and tripped over his kimono.

"Screw this. I'll meet you there." Kennen suddenly morphed into a ball of electricity, which burned straight through his kimono and flew off over the hills into the distance.

"I hope he's wearing something under that."

Three hours later

Shurima Desert, the VOID-COM Nexus

Whenever a VOID-COM squad went on a mission, one of the Clairvoyants was diverted to monitor their progress. Anivia didn't usually pay too much attention to the missions, because VOID-COM's soldiers were capable and could handle themselves. But this time, it was different. She didn't have her best in the field, and the mission was sudden with no chance to prepare; if anything went wrong, it would be on her.

So it came as a troubling surprise when another summoner, a woman this time, emerged from the Clairvoyant room.

"Anivia, we have another six pings." The cryophoenix sighed and shook her head. Six pings at once? Even if most of VOID-COM wasn't absent or asleep, there was no way she could dispatch six squads; the biggest mission in VOID-COM history had been a three squad mission, and that had pushed the organization's summoners to the limit.

She would have to make a judgement call.

"How long have the sleepers been out, exactly?" the commander asked.

"Main sleep cycle began about four hours ago, Cryophoenix." Anivia quickly did some calculations; in twenty minutes, the soldiers would exit the dreaming stage and be able to be awakened for a brief window without their concentration being affected by drowsiness.. "Is that important?"

"It is." Anivia stopped a passing technician with her wing. "I want everyone in Barracks A awake and ready to deploy in forty minutes. Don't wake them up for twenty; I need them at maximum efficiency."

"Anything else, Cryophoenix?"

"Get Kassadin out of the Memory Drive. We need his magic more then his memories right now." The technician ran off, leaving Anivia with the summoner. "Where are the pings coming from, summoner Rallen?"

"Three from the Freljord, two from an unexplored overseas location. The last one isn't technically a ping; our motion detectors at the Shurima portal detected something coming out of the portal."

"Understood." Anivia closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"Anivia? ANIVIA?"

"Yes?"

"You've been sitting there for ten minutes!"

Anivia opened her eyes. "We'll send what's left of the A team and some of the B team to the Shurima portal. Ignore the other pings; we don't have the time nor the manpower to explore an undiscovered island."

"And Freljord?"

"All of the pings came from the domain of the Ice Dervish Lissandra, correct?" Anivia lived in Freljord before she was asked to head up VOID-COM, but she remembered being the only one who realized that the 'Ice Dervish' was more than she appeared. "From now on, do not report pings from Lissandra's territory unless you see Cho'Gath eating their city. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Commander." The summoner left to head to sleep; an informal rule at VOID-COM was that any soldier returning from a mission, engineer who completed a new prototype, doctor who saved a life, or in this case a Summoner who got a ping, was entitled to eight hours of leave. Anivia would have to awaken another summoner to replace her in the Clairvoyant room, but this wasn't a serious enough incident to merit an exception to the popular rule.

A loud pop sounded from behind the Cryophoenix, and a cold blade pressed against her neck. Without turning, Anivia spoke. "Kassadin, you know this is hardly necessary. I need another team out there."

Kassadin removed the blade, and walked around until he and Anivia were face to face. "Those memories are important," he rasped through his respirator. "I did not have enough time, nor was I conscious enough to remember everything during my time in the Void. But if I can deposit them-"

"As you have told me on many separate occasions, they may be the key to ending the Void threat." Kassadin's face remained emotionless as Anivia spoke. "But it would not do to sacrifice our defense in the present for the possibility of victory in the distant future. We must remain vigilant; you of all people-"

"I, OF ALL PEOPLE?" Kassadin said, dragging out each word, his mechanically enhanced voice seething with rage. "If you cannot maintain proper respect for what I have experienced, what I have suffered, then I will have to leave this pathetically sentimental organization and hunt the Void on my own."

Feeling unusually daring, but knowing in her ancient mind that this was the right decision, Anivia asked,"And how long would you last on your own?" Kassadin turned to leave in a huff, only to find a wall of ice rapidly rise in his path. "I speak with candor, because we have run up against the brutal facts of this endeavor. We are outnumbered, outgunned, and pings are appearing faster than we can resolve them. If VOID-COM, with the might of the League behind us, can't deal with the Void threat, how would you do on your own?"

"Better. For a time," the Void-enhanced mage spat.

"For a time. Then you'll run into a Void incursion you can't handle alone, and by the time you realize it, you'll be dead, and we'll have lost our only hope of beating the invasion. No, as frustrating as this may be for you, we need you in VOID-COM. Your squad will be waiting in the briefing room in about ten minutes; I trust you will lead them with your usual skill and efficiency."

"What is the mission you have seen fit to assign me?"

"Something has emerged from the portal where you were found; your job is to deduce its intentions, and eliminate it in case it has any kind of hostile intent."

"Finally, my kind of job." Kassadin vanished with a bang, then spoke again; he apparently didn't leave. "Why were you chosen to lead VOID-COM, and not me? I am more experienced, I have the crucial memories we need, I-"

"Each time I interrupt your memory depositions, you ask me this question, and each time, I can only provide you the same answer that I gave the previous time. I was chosen to lead VOID-COM not because I am old or wise; believe me when I say that there are both older beings and wiser ones than I. No, I was chosen because I alone in Runeterra have no stake in the outcome of this war. Even if the Void is victorious, I can fly away and endure. Even if their jaws close upon me hundreds of times, I will rise from the ice once more. I have no ties to nations nor lovers, nor do I have a vendetta against anyone or anything; I am the only truly neutral being on Runeterra. And so, I am the being that can be best trusted to make decisions that will decide the fates of nations." It was word for word the same answer she gave Kassadin each time; the words seemed to have a calming effect on him.

Another bang, and Kassadin was gone. In another brief moment, Kassadin led two armored men and a mage into the Summoning room. Summoners whirled around them, and then the glowing energy balls appeared and the group vanished.

When you've lived for thousands of years, everything feels like a snapshot.

Ionia

tera no fuhai (The Temple of Corruption)

Thankfully, Kennen had somehow donned a purple outfit that covered everything but his hands and eyes by the time the VOID-COM team arrived. He said he had been wearing it under the kimono. Nobody believed him.

"This is the place. What are you guys looking for here? This place is scaaaaarrrry." Kennen looked nervous, like he would be glad to leave.

"We're looking for whatever caused the weird plague field. As soon as we find it and stop it, or we find a clue that leads us to some other place, we can leave."

"Let's go." Zeke said. "I'll lead the way." His boldness drew only strange looks from the two women and the Kinkou messenger.

Riven quizzically asked,"Shouldn't one of the Ionians go first?"

"I'm plenty strong enough, I'm the biggest guy here, let me go first."

"Give me the shield." Irelia yanked the shield from Zeke's grasp. "How about now?"

"You lead, Irelia. You know how Ionian temples are laid out." Then: "What?"

"You got any Rakkorian blood, Zeke?" Riven asked.

"Weren't you the one who didn't like talking about the past? Besides, my family is pure Demacian."

"Only my own past," Riven grinned. "That shield was the Aegis of the Rakkorian Legion, wielded by the mightiest warrior in their army. To outsiders, the shield was a symbol of hope, of protection, of courage. To the Rakkorians themselves...it bolstered courage, leadership skills, and toughness to the point where the holder would be incredibly noble, but also simultaneously display suicidal bravery."

"So one of my parents cheated on the other?"

"Doesn't have to be one of your parents, could be anywhere in your family tree," Riven replied. Zeke rolled his eyes. "But cheer up! Now that you're not pure Demacian, you can be a nationless mongrel like me!"

"That sounds...excellent, but can we get back to the mission?" Irelia asked. "I'll lead."

The group proceeded into the temple, Irelia and Kennen in the lead and Riven and Zeke watching the group's backs. The hallways were lit by flickering torches, and water drops ran down the ancient walls of the temple. It had clearly not been maintained well.

Riven and Zeke backed headlong into Irelia and Kennen, knocking over the yordle. The Demacian sighed as he saw Irelia's hand raised in a fist.

"Oh, for the love of...I don't know th-" Riven slapped her hand over Zeke's mouth.

"Quiet," she hissed. "Something's coming." A shadow flickered from a junction in front of them. "Get ready to fight." The shadow crossed through the intersection, revealing its bare chest, fur-covered legs, and the purple bow it carried that had an unearthly red arrow nocked.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" Irelia shouted, charging forward from the shadows. The figure turned, the arrows on his bow multiplying into a swarm.

This was going to be close.

Shurima Desert

The Gates of Icathia

"SILENCE!" Kassadin roared at the purple creature, his magical power surging into a ball that smashed into the...thing, slamming it into a wall. Behind him, a burst of light flew from a wand, pinning the mantis-like creature.

"WHO ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU GET THROUGH THE PORTAL?"

The creature spoke. "I founnnndddd it...you cannot keep me here...I will evolvvvvvveeee..." Then he vanished.

"I snared him!" shouted the blonde mage along for the ride. "He's still in the same spot!" Kassadin swung his prostethic blade with both hands through the space where the creature had been. It stopped halfway down with a clink. The creature appeared again.

"I HAVE YOU!" the void-enhanced man shouted through his ventilator. "YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME."

"But for howwwww long?"

"WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER, CREATURE!"

"Interessssssting...A chhhhhhild of the Void..." The creature vanished once more, but this time he could not be found.

Kassadin howled with frustration.

Ionia

The Temple of Desolation

"Look out!" Irelia yelled as a hail of arrows flew down the corridor. The VOID-COM team ducked behind pillars, avoiding the worst of the attack. "It's on the run!" The group sprinted after the creature, Riven in the lead with her completed green blade flashing light about the corridor. The creature turned, snarled, and fired another arrow which Riven easily deflected with her completed blade.

"He can't keep this up much longer!" Zeke shouted.

"His arrows aren't coming from a quiver; for all we know they could be magical and he could have thousands!" Irelia panted as she kept sprinting after the thing.

"Life...is...corruption..." the creature snarled, firing a tentacle of purple goo which ensnared the group.

"SHIT! HE'S GETTING AWAY!" Riven yelled. The creature stopped, turned, and readied another hail of arrows.

The VOID-COM team could only watch as a shuriken buried itself in the creature, followed by a shock that drew a scream of agony from the creature. Finally, a purple-garbed yordle flew from the shadows, kicking the creature in the side of the leg. It crumpled to the ground.

Kennen turned to the team. "The hallway goes all the way around." The creature stirred and began to rise until the Kinkou messenger buried a shuriken in his chest, knocking him back down. "Judging from some of the pictographs I ran by, the creature's name is Varus. He was carving out his story in the walls..."

"...but you can tell us later, after we've gotten out of here." Riven shook herself loose from the goo and grabbed the limp Varus. She raised her spare hand to her ear. "Riven to central. We found the cause of the attacks, have it in custody. What do you advise?" The former Noxian listened briefly. "Roger that." Then: "We're out of here, stand still." Blue circles appeared around us.

"Uh...guys...can we get out of here?" Kennen asked?

"Yeah...we're on our way-" and they were gone.

"Great...dark, creepy temple...where the lightning can't reach. Just great."