THE SOUND OF MY VOICE
Genres: Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Fantasy, Horror
Rated: M for violence and mature themes.
Author's Note: For those who might be confused, the first part of this chapter is from third-person POV, the second (longer) part returns to Sona POV. Enjoy!
"Good and evil are not truths. They are born from men and each perceives the shades differently." – Damian Kusho
CHAPTER 4: THE DEATH OF A SECRET
A dark hall. Dirty floor. Grimy walls. A man ran towards a door that looked like it was hastily put together using old wooden planks at the end of the narrow hall. He reached the door and tried to force it open but it wouldn't budge. It was barred shut from the outside by a metal pole. He looked with widened eyes at the larger man who followed right behind him.
"It's been locked again—someone was here! Someone locked it from the outside when we were still inside the building." He said, panting. "Come on, what are you waiting for?! You can just blast a hole in it with your Hextech Canon!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" the larger man said in a deep, gruff voice. "You want to get us both killed?"
"Just do it!" the first man was terrified. "Or we're going to die anyways! Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I knew we shouldn't have taken this deal with Edward."
"He doesn't know where we are yet. Stop panicking." The larger man glared at his partner. "If I blast a hole through the door, it's going to make too much noise."
"H-he's going to find us . . . he's going to find us if you don't open the fucking door!" The smaller man grabbed his partner's shirt collar desperately. "Please! Just get us out of here!"
Suddenly, they heard a roar in the distance and the faint sound of clinking metal. It seemed to get closer every second. Both men stared at each other with fear in their eyes.
"Oh fuck this." The larger man aimed his Hextech canon at the wooden door and squeezed the trigger three times and the door exploded into green flames. When the flames died down, the door was cracked in a million places. He pushed his partner to the side. "Get out of the way!"
The larger man rammed into what was left of the door, which shattered into splinters, and was met with a narrow alley, stretching perpendicular to the hall they had come from.
"Which way?!" the first man tumbled out and covered his mouth. The air was filled with a suspicious greyish-green haze.
"Shut up and follow me." The larger man began to run towards the right but something glowing with a green aura suddenly whizzed by overhead. It was gone the next moment.
"W-w-what was that?" the first man could barely speak without stuttering now. Regardless, it was a silly question. They both knew what it was.
"T-the other way." The larger man said slowly. Then he shouted. "The other way—come on!"
They both turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. The larger man accidentally knocked over a stack of barrels, which tumbled over and spilled a viscous, brown liquid onto the metal floor. The floor sizzled and its surface melted away. Concentrated, unrefined liquid Zaunite. The first man ducked under a pipe and tried to step over the liquid but as he did so, hot steam shot out of another pipe to his left. He flinched, losing his balance and dropping to his knees into a puddle of one of the most acidic substances in all of Runeterra. The liquid Zaunite burned through his pants instantly and seared the skin right off his knee.
"Aagh!" he cried out while blood dripped from the exposed flesh. "Help me!"
Using his other leg, he managed to get back on his two feet and hobble towards the stairs at the end of the alley but at the same time, he heard a guttural sound come from above him. Right above him.
"No—!" the man screamed but did not even finish before his throat was cut open by a sharp metal claw. The claw belonged to the beast that now stood with one foot on the dead man's chest.
"Filthy . . . blood." It snarled as its pointed snout sniffed the air. "Dis . . . gusting mutts."
It kicked the man's head, which flew straight off and smashed into the wall, causing a crimson mess that splattered in all directions. The man's severed neck spilt a darker, coarser red which mixed with the liquid Zaunite and created an awful stench.
"Filthy!" the beast howled and then bent over, revealing the brutal machinery strapped to his back. The device's main compartment consisted of a canister filled with a suspicious green liquid which suddenly turned orange. The beast roared again as the veins on his fur-covered back seemed to bulge and surge with the orange liquid—the liquid had somehow entered his body through an unknown hole in his body. It fell forward, managing to stay upright by supporting its body with its two metallically-clawed hands. However, the beast seemed to be in pain, making a feral cry that echoed throughout the alleys of Zaun.
Meanwhile, the other, larger man who had survived and run several hundred meters was about to climb into a manually-operated lift that could be used to cross the Zaunite ravine to the city's main gate. That was, until he heard the cry of the beast. He dropped his Hextech canon and sighed hopelessly.
"So—this is the despair that they talk about. This is the uncaged wrath of Zaun."
He could now hear the sound of footsteps coming up behind him but he didn't bother turning. It was the sound of hind-paws against concrete.
"Blood . . . Hunt." The beast rasped before ripping out the man's heart. As the man dropped dead into the chamber of the lift that would have been his salvation, the beast let out another primal howl.
"My . . . Eternal . . . Hunger . . . shall never . . . be satisfied."
. . .
The last thing I remember was falling into a dark abyss. Before that . . . I'm not sure . . . I think I was in a bright room of some sort? Or—a lit stage of some sort? I was . . . I was . . . oh right. I was at a concert. I was . . . performing? The picture in my head is starting to come together. I had Etwahl on my lap. I was playing for an audience. And after that . . . I went backstage and . . . lost consciousness. Someone was taking care of me . . . someone . . .
Is it just me or is it getting really hard to breathe . . .? It's getting really hard to—
I gagged as an invisible rope seemed to tighten around my neck. Somebody . . . please . . . it hurts . . .
"Zed!" my sorry excuse for a whisper cried out vainly. "Zed, where are you?"
I opened my eyes to nothing but darkness. My eyes were starting to tear up and my neck—what is this familiar feeling—it was the feeling of getting crushed. The image of a man with a crazed grin crossed my mind and I flinched. Isn't there anyone to help me . . .?
"It's okay, baby, I'm here. Don't cry." A soothing voice whispered next to my ears. Then, a tender hand swept the hair in my face aside, resting on my cheek. With my hair out of my eyes, I saw a woman in a plain dress wearing a kitchen apron over it sitting in a wooden chair by my bedside. She smiled affectionately and the expression sent a feeling of warmth and ease through my body. Her long, brown hair bounced weightlessly as she moved—she was like an angel.
"Close your eyes, baby. You need some rest."
I obeyed naturally.
"There's my beautiful little baby Sonata. I'll be right here if you need me." The woman cupped my hands in her's and looked lovingly at me. "Don't you fret, baby. Even if I'm not with you, you'll always find me in your heart."
Is it possible? Is that you m—
I sat straight up and my eyes shot open.
"Mom?!" My whisper of a voice was louder than it had ever been in six years but all I saw when I awoke was a hulking figure illuminated by the moonlight seeping through my window, frozen by surprise.
"Relax," he murmured in his gruff voice. "It's only me, Mercurius."
"Oh." I was disappointed. "What are you doing in my dorm, Mercurius?"
"I just dropped by to check if you were doing alright, and—" Mercurius hesitated and shook his head.
"And . . .?" I prompted him to continue. He let out a heavy sigh that sounded more like a soft growl.
"I still can't find that man from that night. I can't believe he survived—" Mercurius paused when he realized that his metallic claws were in the moonlight and quickly tried to hide them behind him. But I already saw the stains on their silver surface. Stains of dried blood.
"You were out 'hunting' again, weren't you?" My mouth formed a thin line.
"Sona, I can explain—" he began, but I interrupted him.
"It's fine, I'm not angry."
"You're not?" his feral eyes had lost their savage gleam and instead, they almost looked like that of a hopeful puppy.
I smiled. "I told you before—how could I be angry at you when I know you're doing this for me? Just . . . I'd prefer if you kept the killing to a minimum."
"Sona . . ." Mercurius crouched down next to my bed and bowed his head, brushing his furry snout against my neck. I wrapped my arms around his thick neck and embraced his warmth.
"I wish they weren't so scared of you." I breathed "They need to know that you've one of the kindest, most caring hearts out of anyone."
"I'm a monster, Sona, they'd never accept me." He said bitterly.
"You're a saviour, Mercurius. Your appearance doesn't make you any less of a man."
"Sona . . . look at how much you've grown. How gentle and gracious you've come to be." Mercurius said in a voice that was almost akin to purring.
"I take after you."
Mercurius rose and my arm followed his hide until it was out of my reach before letting my arm drop to my side once more.
"Stay safe, Sona." Mercurius nodded one last time before leaping out of my open windows, back into the cover of the night.
Mother . . . The memory of her still filled my every essence. I wish you were still here.
Feeling a slight itch in my nose, I sneezed, and in doing, another scent entered my nostrils. It smelt faintly of fire-wood and dried leaves. It smelt of Mercurius. Oh that's right—if my parents hadn't died, I wouldn't have met him. I wouldn't have met the poor, wandering lonely soul who fought as a vigilante of the night but was feared by even those of goodness and righteousness. Never to be truly understood.
Mercurius . . .
The thought of him accompanied me until I drifted off into a deep sleep once again.
. . .
Tap. Tap. Tap.
What was that sound? It was such a familiar beat to my ears, yet so incomprehensible.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
They were faster now. I groaned on the inside and rolled over onto my back, kicking the sheets towards the end of the bed.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Alright, alright, I'm coming, I mentally answered as I grabbed an oversized shirt from my desk-chair and threw it over my undergarments. Opening the door, I rubbed my weary-eyes and was greeted by a nervous-looking Lux. Lux was rarely ever nervous or jumpy.
"Uhh . . . Sona, right?"
I nodded.
"We're about to have an unscheduled high-priority assembly right now. Zed asked me to ask you to get down to the main courtyard as quick as you can."
"Who?" I rasped.
"Sorry, what?" Lux leaned forward. I pinched the bridge of my nose and tapped the floor with my foot impatiently. The early-morning wake-up call had turned my already barely-audible voice to that of complete inaudibility. I took a deep breath.
"Who—is holding—this assembly?" I emphasized each word and syllable.
"Oh, I'm not sure but I think it's one of the Academy's Board members. Anyways, just get down there as soon as possible, okay? Thanks!" Lux hurried off before I could ask any further questions.
Closing my door, I looked into the rectangular mirror on the wall above my sink. Goodness, my hair is a mess. And my eyes are droopy. And . . .
I shook off my sleepiness with a splash of water from the sink and got dressed into my Academy uniform. Whatever was going to take place at the assembly . . . something felt off. The way that Lux glanced about the hallway, as if worried someone would catch her talking to me. As if she would be punished for doing so.
As if she were coming to tell me in secret.
Taking another deep breath, I ruffled my hair and stepped out into the busy corridor.
I turned right and made my way down the stairs, which was crowded with students, all heading towards the courtyard. When I arrived, the courtyard was almost full. I stood on the tips of my toes, trying to find Zed, but in every direction I looked, I only found endless rows of students, all dressed in their Academy uniforms. Then, I spotted her.
There. On the steps of the gazebo, standing with the other members of the Elite Ten, who were all in their regular clothes (the Elite Ten were not required to dress in uniform). Oh how I wish I still had my voice so I could call out to her. But all I could do was to push my way through the tightly woven rows of girls and boys, some who refused to budge, until I finally reached the front row. As I took my next step towards the gazebo though, a man dressed in a black suit blocked my path. It was a Sentinel—one of the Academy's disciplinary officers.
"Go back to your row, girl. You may not pass any further than this point." He spread his arms wide to prove his point.
"I'm an attendant of one of the Elite Ten." I tried telling him but the loud chatter rendered my whisper inaudible. When he shook his head again and gestured, with his head, for me to step back, I pointed at Zed. The Sentinel glanced at Zed and then back at me, and laughed.
"You? An attendant of the Elite Ten? Please, kid, don't make a fool out of yourself. There's absolutely no way someone with a spiritual essence as weak as yours would be an attendant. Now be a good girl and return to your designated row. The assembly's about to start."
His gaze shifted to a position behind me. I turned around and was confused as to why the entire courtyard had gone silent, and why the rows of students were suddenly parting like a river yielding to a river god when I saw him. An old man wearing a long, black, traditional Ionian robe that was indicative of his status of high-nobility strode through the crowd with deliberate, unhurried steps. When he passed the front row, I caught a glimpse of an insignia sewed into the back of his expensive robe. It was the Kinkou Order Crest.
What was an elder from the Kinkou Order doing here at the Academy? And if I'm not mistaken . . .
The man's sharp gaze met mine for a mere moment and in that split second, it bore into my soul like a drill made to dig up every single one of my little secrets. There's no mistaking it. This man—known as the 'Piercing Eagle'—a high-ranking member of the Academy's Board (of management?) and the Grandmaster of the Kinkou Order.
Master Kusho.
I glanced back at Zed, who at that moment, finally noticed me. She widened her eyes but subtly gestured with her hand for me to stay where I was. Despite her display of confidence, I could tell that there was something wrong with her. It was as if she was on edge. I understood as soon as Master Kusho reached the gazebo's steps and the all the other members of the Elite Ten moved aside to let him through to Zed. I understood why the look in her eyes revealed nothing but dread. The Elite Ten and their attendants, excluding Zed, exited the gazebo and joined the students in the first row.
"Ahh, Zed. You've grown." Master Kusho smiled coldly, as if he were disappointed that the statement was true. Zed did not answer but only bowed her head respectfully.
"I can't hear you with that mask on your face."
Zed gripped the creases on her white pants tightly.
"Take it off." The old man's voice was quiet but commanding.
In response, the crowd murmured with anticipatory excitement. After all, the Shadow's Enigma's identity was finally to be exposed! I knew, however, how much this would hurt Zed. How taking off her masks would only deepen the Enigma that was her.
"Do it." Each word was spoken with an oppressive force that threatened to crush Zed if she did not obey.
"Yes, father."
Father?! Hold on, then that means the old man—that means Zed is his—
With great hesitation, Zed removed the silver headband on her forehead and unravelled the white cloth around her face, revealing long black hair that fell down her back gracefully. Her facial features were unmistakably feminine and timelessly beautiful. Her alluring, dark red eyes peered out from her soft, pale face as they flicked anxiously from side to side at her scrutinizing observers. Gasps echoed around the courtyard. Even the Elite Ten were slightly taken aback.
"Zed—you're a girl?" Ezreal exclaimed.
So it turns out, Ezreal actually was not aware of Zed's true gender. Then why did he ask if we were in a re—
Master Kusho's powerful voice cut through the students' conversations like a heated blade. "Now, I don't think you've formally, properly introduced yourself, Zed."
Zed looked at me helplessly and I gazed back at her with equal desperation. Left with no choice, she spoke.
"M-my name Zariya Kusho, but you can call me Zed. I'm currently in Class 2-A. Please to meet you all."
Without the mask, it was even more obvious that she was completely and undeniably, a female student. Her voice was uncertain but it was also gentle and sweet. It was the voice of a lovable young lady—the voice of an innocent maiden.
But . . .
But it was also the voice of a weak, harmless teenager. From a glance, she was nothing like the Shadow's Enigma that they had imagined. Zed? A fearsome warrior? One of the Elite Ten? Please—what a joke. She doesn't even have the unwavering defiance that Lux is known for or give the impression that she's witnessed true suffering like Taliyah does. She doesn't even have the dangerous charm that radiates from Ahri.
In their eyes—in the eyes of every student standing in the courtyard, she had become a mere schoolgirl. Some had already begun mocking her.
"That's Zed? I don't believe it."
"What a phony."
"She probably used her status as the daughter of a Board member to get into the Elite Ten."
Others started praising her, though not for her courage, but for her beauty.
"She's—she's like a goddess!"
"I never thought I'd be saying this but I'm going ask her out."
"No she's mine. I call dibs on her." A few guys were bickering behind me.
I turned around and scowled at them with disgust. Honestly—just how shallow can they get?
"Order! I said order in the Courtyard!" Master Kusho raised his voice sternly. "We have not gotten to the intended announcement yet, so I would ask of you all to maintain your silence. Thank-you."
The old man reached inside his robe and pulled out an envelope. Opening the envelope, a small, rectangular card with a name slipped out onto his palm. The card had a name on it.
"Jason Brighthammer, of Class 3-A" Master Kusho read. "Please come forth."
A tall, devilishly handsome young man took a step forward from where the Elite Ten had taken their stand. He was Jason Brighthammer, but everyone called him Jayce. Ranked first in the 120th Generation and No. 6 on the Elite Ten, it would be an understatement to call him a genius. He was a brilliant inventor, considered among the top of Piltover's scientific community and an immensely honored student at the Academy.
To me though, he was an arrogant prick. Now, don't take me for a vile, cussing delinquent of a girl. It's just that you have to meet him in person in order to fully appreciate his high-and-mighty ego and his apparently dashing looks that conceal his deviously cunning not-to-mention, perverse personality.
As of now, he proceeded to stride up to the gazebo steps, aloof and self-assured, with that stupidly confident grin. When he reached the bottom step, he slipped his hand into the inner-pocket of his immaculate white suit and pulled out a miniscule, black, cubic box. What happened next would make me shudder in revulsion for months to come.
Jayce took to one knee and opened the box, facing Zed with a solemn expression on his face.
"Zariyah Erebus Kusho, daughter of Grandmaster Damian Kusho, and High-Lady of the Kinkou Order—will you take my hand in marriage?"
"WHAT?!" the courtyard exploded into a frenzy of excitement, anger and confusion
What the hell did that bastard just say?! Somebody PLEASE tell me I misheard him. I was fuming.
"Silence!" Master Kusho used magical amplification to project his voice across the agitated courtyard and the entire place fell silent. "Zed, what is your answer?"
"W-what?" Zed sputtered. "I'm not . . . I'm not sure I heard Jayce correctly—"
"Zariyah, this young man is from the most noble and respected ruling clan of Piltover. You are so fortunate to have someone like him propose to you, and it would bring the greatest honor to your family should you choose to accept his proposal."
Ah. So that's what this is all about. Maintaining family reputation. Building new connections to the corrupt nobility from other nations in order to retain power and influence. The children had essentially no control over their own lives. I threw my innocence to the curb and swore under my breath.
"Fucking hell . . ." I couldn't watch this bullshit any longer.
Slipping past the male Sentinel who had directed his attention elsewhere, I strolled straight past Jayce and up the gazebo steps. Ignoring the glares of the envious—and to Master Kusho's shock—I held Zed's hand side and stood beside her. The poor girl let out a tiny sigh of relief.
"And who, in Ionia's name, are you?" Master Kusho's attempt at being casual was nothing short of disdainful. "You would dare interrupt such an important ceremonial proceeding?"
"She's my attendant, father." Zed said quickly.
"Your attendant?" the old man scoffed as if to say 'this weakling?', but I was undeterred. I had promised myself—protecting Zed was my purpose at this Academy. And I would not let anyone, not even her father, harass her without contesting with a show of strength.
"Zed," I said in my whispery voice, "Show them that you are unafraid. Shove your confidence down his throat. Give him your end of the bargain."
"Sona . . ." Zed smiled gratefully and squeezed my hand. I nodded. Show them, my eyes said.
Zed turned to Jayce and exhaled deeply.
"Jason Brighthammer, I accept your proposal—"
Jayce's solemn expression brightened. Not for long though.
"—on one condition."
Oooh, even I can't wait to write the next chapter! For the time being though, if you're eager for more, check out my other League of Legends story, "One Fell Swoop" about Kassadin and his emotional roller-coaster of a journey to Rank 1!
As usual, if you're liking what you're reading so far and want to be the first to know when the story is updated, FOLLOW us! If you're LOVING what you're reading so far, spam that FAVORITE checkbox! Leave a comment in the Comments/Review section below to let us know what you think of the story!
Signing out,
Miria (and a dirty-minded writer named Nightrous :P)
Next Chapter: CHP. 5 - THE FALSE SERENADE
SEE YOU THEN!