As usual I forgot to mention a thank you to Stolenwarpig for the advice on Diana's weapon. I massively appreciate it; I knew a little about Diana's weapon, but I did some additional research before I began writing chapter 6. Actually I spent about an hour in custom matches with my camera zoomed all the way in to watch how Diana swings her weapon and just oh my gosh thank you. hopefully all that will serve some justice in this chapter.

I also thought Diana had some sort of maternal side to her, especially considering how alone and outcast she was as a child. Of course it makes Di's character more dynamic but aNYWAY.

This was a rather quickly written chapter (think I did the entire thing in a day) but it's about the full length I want it to be and with information essential to pushing the plot forward. So here ya go.


She ran through the village, covered in her fallen brother's blood, a look of desperation and horror in her pale eyes. She clutched his shield in one hand, his sword in the other. Eyes bored into her as she ran toward the temple; some tried to stop her, but she paid them no mind. The woman did not slow even as she climbed the stone steps to the temple.

"Elders!" she screamed upon entering the temple. She stopped, her knees finally buckling under her, and collapsed. The sword and shield clattered uselessly next to her and the sound of footsteps followed shortly after. "Avatar Zeno, he—"

"Where is he?" She failed to respond, her chest heaving in irregular, greedy breaths. Above her she could hear mumbling. She heard some of them mention the blood that stained her person and she could practically feel their fear. "Speak, Avatar!"

"He's dead," she finally choked, her head tilting up. She saw the elders' eyes fill with the same horror she had upon seeing the Solari avatar shoved onto his blade.

One of the elder's faces turned into a menacing scowl, and her heart began to sink. "You killed him, didn't you?"

"What?" Her brows furrowed at the accusation. "No, I loved my brother, I would never kill him!"

"His blood stains you, does it not?" the elder scoffed; she lowered her head again and she choked out a sob. Finally she nodded when asked a second time. "You killed him," a voice repeated.

"I did not!" she screamed, her head snapping up to look at the elders. Grey frantic eyes darted around their faces. "Zeno was ill! I tried to calm him down, tried to put an end to his madness," She shook her head, another sob escaping her throat. "He killed himself, I couldn't stop him."

"Yet you came here with his sword and shield."

"I did not kill my brother!" Her fists clenched and her body trembled. "Please, you have to believe me."

"It is very hard to believe otherwise, Avatar. This cannot go unpunished."

"You jest," she said, flinching away. She began to inch her way backwards. Her mind raced, her head hurt; she wanted to plead with them, wanted to show them what she had seen, but more than anything she wanted Zeno back. To her horror, one of the elders bent and took the Sun Warrior's sword and held it up. "Please, I don't wish to hurt any of you."

"Someone has to pay for his death, Avatar." The blade started to come down upon her and in an instant she rushed forward, vanishing and reforming behind the elder. Her arms held fast around his neck and head, and with a single twist he fell to the floor a cadaver. Another pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and she sharply turned, planting an elbow into a nose. She broke away before more could reach her and exited the temple. She ran through the village, adrenaline restoring her strength. Eyes latched onto her again. "Stop her! Stop that woman! She killed the avatar!"

"Brothers and sisters, flee from this place! Tell the others we're not safe here anymore!"


A harsh breath pulled Diana from her sleep. She panted, eyes shifting around uselessly in the dark. She reached to the side and groped until she found the hilt of her blade; it instantly became illuminated with a pale glow and she held it up. Again her eyes darted around the chamber, and when she saw nothing, her mind began to ease. Diana placed the blade back in its place beside her bed and the glow faded as her touch left it. She turned on her side and curled, her fingers clutching at the familiar warmth of the bear pelt cast over her.

"This is why you fight, Diana. Don't be afraid."

A sigh escaped Diana's lips and she pushed a hand through her hair. "I know." The Lunari was still for a while, but when an ache began to persist in her head, she sat up, threw the pelt from her and stood. With some effort she dressed and equipped her armor. When she finished she exited the chamber and went outside the temple. Diana stood on the top of the stairs; it was still dark outside, but she could make out the outline of the trees and lake. She idly fidgeted with her gauntlets, fixing them on her wrists, and flexed her fingers once she was satisfied.

That week had been more or less hellish for the Lunari. At the Institute she was summoned numerous times, often by a different Summoner each time, and put through nearly any kind of match a Summoner could ask for. There were good Summoners, bad Summoners, Summoners that only summoned her once and others that swore they had an affinity for her. Much to her delight she had not spent any of those matches with the Solari avatar on her team, but much to her dismay she had not fought against her either. Diana saw enough of her around the Institute, however; each brief look, whether mutual or otherwise, sent pangs of anger into her heart.

Leona had changed in that week; the icy eyes Diana saw on her first day at the Institute had melted into something much different, though Diana could not put a finger on what exactly it was. She had to wonder, but not care: was the Solari actually suffering?

The thing that disturbed the Lunari warrior the most, however, was her reoccurring dreams. It took her a while to realize that these dreams were, essentially, pulled from her ancestor's memory. They nonetheless disturbed and somewhat angered her.

"What exactly is it you want me to do?" she called out into the open air. She was graced with no response, save the chatter of birds and mewling of a distant animal. She sighed and ran a hand across her eyes, trying to drive the sleep from them. "It's too early for this crap," she muttered, brushing fingers through her hair.


The air on Summoner's Rift was incredibly oppressive; the sky boasted of a nearly complete overcast and the Fog of War seemed thicker than it usually did. As Diana made her way to Blue Team's Ancient Golem camp, a sickening feeling crept into her stomach, but she quickly beat it away.

Her most frequent Summoner had decided to try out a different role after a few tests. She was in the jungle this time. Her Summoner convinced her that she could be at her best here; she could be a silent force that stalked just out of reach, waiting in the tree line for a perfect ambush. Diana rather liked her place on mid lane, though she could not quite help but smirk at the idea of popping out of the brush to delete a helpless carry off the map. She could only imagine how terrifying it would be to watch a perfect arc of moonlight rip from the Fog of War.

Directly on the other side of the map, she suspected, sat Warwick and Leona at their Ancient Golem. Blue and Purple's ranged carries, Twitch and Ezreal, respectively, were sitting at their turrets; Taric accompanied the Plague Rat, sitting a short distance from him in the brush. Katarina was Purple's mid lane carry; Renekton held their top lane. Diana's mid and top laners were still at base, picking through items. She would have snapped at them if they still didn't have another minute before the match started.

Diana's foot kicked something and she stopped her stride. A stuffed bear rolled harmlessly a few inches away. Diana's brow furrowed and she picked it up by the arm. "What in the world…"

"Tibbers! There you are!"

Diana whirled around to see the Dark Child running through the fog, arms raised. "Annie," she said calmly, holding the bear up daintily in her fingers. "How did Tibbers get all the way out here when you haven't left base yet?"

"I don't know!" the girl whined. "I think I dropped him in my last game." Diana's brow rose. Annie flexed her fingers and her face became frustrated. "Gimme Tibbers, Moon Lady."

"I'll give him to you," Diana said, turning the bear in her hand. She pushed the tip of her blade into the dirt and traced a finger over button eyes. "You have to promise me a favor first, though." She crouched so that she was on eyelevel with Annie. "I heard that Leona loves to play with Tibbers."

"She does?"

Diana nodded. "When Leona pokes her face in your lane, why don't you let her play with him? I'll come join you."

"Okay, just gimme Tibbers."

"Good girl." She held the bear out and it was instantly snatched away. Diana gave the girl a quick pat on her head and rose, pulling her blade from the earth and continuing on to the Ancient Golem camp. By the time she arrived, Riven had already come to help her. "Riven, if you don't mind me asking," she began, leaning on her blade. "How is it that you fight in a skirt?"

"Carefully," the exile responded, "Very, very carefully."

"Teach me sometime."

"Minions have spawned."

The golem spawned and the two set to dispatching it. Diana felt a frantic feeling in the back of her skull; it was coming from her Summoner. She killed the Ancient Golem and no sooner had she done this did the announcer's voice call over the dense air.

"Ezreal has slain Twitch for First Blood."

"Dammit, Leona."

"Already? That was fast."

"Go get in your lane before Renekton gets to your turret."

Riven nodded and jogged off. She half turned before she disappeared into the brush. "Have fun on bot lane."

Diana grumbled. "'Fun' isn't the word I would use." She roamed through the jungle, clearing a few more of the camps before making her way into the river toward bottom lane. Twitch was back in lane by this time and he had somewhat caught up with his opponents. When the Lunari saw how her teammates were pressed to their turrets, she decided to toss the idea of a river gank and start above the Dragon's Pit instead. She picked carefully around the vegetation as to not make much noise; she knew how deceptively strong Warwick's ears were. Any slight misstep could have alerted him of her position.

She crouched in the brush, fingers tightening around her blade and grey eyes piercing through the fog. Taric turned his head just slightly and their eyes met. Diana gave a small nod and the knight silently urged the Plague Rat to ease forward. The others started to push back and Diana hastily rose, rushing out of the Fog of War with a swing of her blade. The arc hit both Champions, which was quickly followed up by a toss of a venom cask. The Lunari easily caught up with Ezreal and she swung her blade, catching his left arm and tearing into it. She nearly succeeded in pulling the amulet from his hand until a well-executed Zenith Blade brought Leona smashing into her. The Solari carried her further after the initial skull bash with her shield, pressing her against the stone wall leading to the Dragon's Pit.

"Leona, help me!" The Solari's head turned and from over Leona's shoulder, Diana saw several tainted arrows jutting from the blonde's body. Blood stained his jacket and pants. Leona started to turn sharply to execute another Zenith Blade, but Diana, having regained her senses, snapped her arm up so that the hook of her blade caught the Solari by the pauldron. Her other arm locked around her neck, holding her in place as she ripped the metal from her and dug the hook into unprotected flesh. She pulled the weapon toward her in an attempt to sever the arm, pressing the blade into flesh. A sharp cry escaped Leona's throat; Diana could feel the vibration of the sound in her shoulder, and her heart began to pound loudly in her ears.

"If this is what it feels like to best you on the Rift," Diana growled, pulling harder on the blade; the warm rush of blood seeped over her fingers, "I can't imagine what it would feel like off the Fields."

"An enemy has been slain."

Diana pulled the blade from Leona's flesh and immediately the scent of blood was overwhelming. She reattached it at the other shoulder, cutting the leather buckles that held that pauldron in place. The hook dipped off the shoulder, squirming its way beneath the ornate metal plate that protected the Solari's upper back. After a few harsh tugs it was freed and it fell to the jungle floor with a thud. Hands clutched violently at her arms, shaking her and slamming her into the stone wall, but she refused to let go. Hundreds of voices screamed in unison within Diana's head, urging her forward, fueling the adrenaline rushing through her veins. "What would the Solari think of you now, Sun Avatar? Their glorious sun, felled by the traitorous moon," A hand clenched in red hair and she brought her lips to the Solari's ear. "You've highly underestimated me. I'm not a scared little girl anymore."

Three arrows found their way into Leona's back without much effort. Her body displaced from Diana's grasp; the Solari was bent halfway over, holding her shoulder as she slowly retreated backwards. Diana rushed forward, a yell tearing from her throat. Leona raised her shield in another attempt to stun her attacker, but the Lunari quickly sidestepped the action, hooking her blade around the bloody shield and ripping it from its owner. She quickly slammed the blade's tip into the dirt, drawing the wounded Solari back to her. Diana grabbed her, spinning her around so that the Solari's back was pressed into her. She held her weapon up to the Solari's neck and dragged it quickly across the flesh. A wet gasp escaped the sun warrior and Diana released her. Hands gripped uselessly at the torn flesh, her blood sullying her golden gauntlets. She fell to her knees with a loud thud, and then collapsed forward. Diana knelt, turning the Solari over and slipping a hand beneath the Solari's neck and pressing the other to the wound. She turned her head. "Twitch, come finish her." The rat complied, waddling over to the felled sun avatar and pointing his crossbow at her forehead. A shot was fired, and with a single convulsion, Leona became still.

"Twitch has slain Leona for a double kill."

Diana removed her fingers and pulled the arrow from the Solari's head. She raised her bloody hand to Leona's head and placed her index finger on her forehead, making an anointment. Diana stood and picked up her blade; tiny streams of blood rushed down its hilt. Without another word or acknowledgement to her teammates, she disappeared into the river.


When Diana exited the summoning platform, she could have sworn she was wearing more blood than was in her body. Most of it was dried on her armor and barely noticeable, save her the silver parts of her armor which were stained in a rusty color. She paid dearly for slaughtering the tank; as the game progressed it became much more difficult to fell the Solari, and each attempt to do so was punished by Leona's teammates.

"That's why you don't focus the tank," Riven told her after a respawn.

Despite taking a few deaths, Diana had, in the end, given the Exile and Annie quite a few kills, as well as snagging a few of her own. Warwick was nearly as relentless, and by midgame, Katarina was a pain to deal with; Diana had hardly enough time to rush to the assassin to land Moonfall on her to stop her Death Lotus before she slaughtered her team and popped Zhonya's Hourglass. Blue Team's Summoners eventually surrendered in the end.

Diana propped herself against a wall and ran a hand over her eyes. She kept it there, muttering to herself until she felt a tug on the tail of her bodice. She looked down warily; Annie was staring up at her. "What is it, child?"

"We never got to play with Tibbers, Moon Lady."

"Maybe next time, Annie." She turned and skipped away as though nothing on the Rift had ever happened. Diana sighed and tilted her head back. "Gods, I wish I were that carefree."

"You should be."

The Lunari tilted her head up again and found the Curator a few feet from her. "Nasus," she huffed, "It's very hard to be so at ease when your Summoners decide to quit on a game that could have easily been won."

Nasus gave a slight nod, hollow eyes shifting to the side for a split second. "True," he growled, "But that's exactly what that was: a game. There is no sense in prying over it." Diana shook her head in response, again rubbing her eyes. "Would you care to join me in the library? Perhaps chatting will ease your mind."

"Sure, let me just—" Diana pushed herself from the wall, fingers pressing over a brow. "Let me clean myself up first. It might take a while." The jackal tilted his head as he watched her stalk into the other corridor.

Diana entered the library almost an hour later; her armor was clean for the most part and only a few places on her remained stained a dark red. The Lunari eventually became frustrated from the process, telling herself she would finish cleaning it when she returned to the temple later that night.

"Ah, Diana." Her head snapped to the right and saw the jackal sitting in a cushioned red chair, book in hand, which he closed upon seeing the Lunari. Across from him sat a sofa of the same material and between the two a coffee table; two porcelain cups and a tea pot were perched upon it. He plucked a pair of glasses from his nose and carefully folded the arms, then set them and the book on a side table. "Please, have a seat." Nasus held a clawed hand out to regard a sofa sitting across from him. Diana complied, easing back against the furniture and folding a leg beneath her. The other leaned forward, taking a teapot off the glass coffee table and filling both cups with tea.

Diana leaned forward once he finished, retrieving the cup nearest to her. She held it up to her face for a few moments, allowing the scent to fill her nose and the warmth to seep into her hands. Her eyes peered around to the countless bookshelves lining nearly every inch of wall space. Her eyes finally lowered and she raised the cup to her lips, taking a single drink. "Thank you." She leaned back into the furniture again. "I'm surprised you allow drink in this place."

"I keep the library and I do spend much of my time here," Nasus replied, "If I so wish to have tea here, it will be here." He watched as Diana gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Leona tells me you're very inquisitive."

The Lunari scoffed. "I'm sure that's not the only thing she tells you," she took another draft of the tea. "But it's true. I usually find some sort of comfort in books. I spent most of my childhood in a library studying."

"Actually, Diana, Leona is one of the reasons I asked you here." He watched Diana's face drop into a scowl. "I'm curious of how you two came to be so bitter towards one another."

"There's not much to it, Curator," Diana said, tracing a finger around the rim of her cup. "I ascended, killed people, now she despises me."

"I believe there is much more to it than that." Nasus leaned so that one elbow was propped on the arm of his chair. "I've watched nearly all of your matches, and out of all of them, the one you shared with the Radiant Dawn was the one you were most…" he paused, trying to find the right word. "Reckless." He paused again as if expecting a sharp remark, but when Diana gave none he continued. "Each time you came to face Leona, there was a resentment in your eyes you carry for no one else on the Rift."

"I hate her. What's your point, Nasus?"

"You would not despise her so bitterly if you did not first love." Diana recoiled in her seat. "You may put yourself to be a fierce, cold warrior, but deep within you lingers something much softer."

"I'm human. Your point?"

"You're also very maternal,"

"I'm also a woman, Nasus. Your point, please?"

"Yes, but your actions stem much further than instincts." An impatient look crept across Diana's face. "Most women have those instincts strengthened during their childhood from the affection they receive from their mothers. When one grows up without a mother, one of two things may happen: they lack a maternal bond or they gain one that is fueled by the affection they never received as a child. The second is a bit of a paradox,"

"Obviously," the Lunari interrupted.

"Your interactions with the Dark Child were quite interesting to watch," the Curator continued, "Most people fear her because of her bear, Tibbers. You're one of the first people I've witnessed that has not had any sort of fear about them when confronting her."

Diana shrugged. "She's a child. Why would I fear her? I mean, yes, Tibbers is quite terrifying, but I don't have fear for Annie."

"Do you sympathize with her?"

Diana drew a deep breath, nails tapping against her cup as she thought. "Yes," she finally answered, looking directly at the other. "What does all of this have to do with the Solari?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect Leona was one of the only sources of female companionship you had for quite some time."

"Nasus, I don't appreciate my mind being delved into."

"I only wish to understand." Nasus straightened in his chair. "Answer the question."

Diana slid her tongue across her teeth. She took a drink from her cup to prolong the answer, an ache bubbling in the back of her head. "Yes."

"Sometimes love can cause us to hate someone more than a person we barely know," Nasus continued. Diana's eyes narrowed. "It could be love between sisters, bothers, friends, family—anything, really. My point, Diana, is that at some point you loved one another in some form. What happened, and why do you pursue her so vehemently?"

Diana's eyes shifted away from the jackal, her fingers clenching at the porcelain cup. "I thought that, no matter what happened after I found the Lunari temple, she would accept me. She always had; why would she stop?"

"Why did she stop, Diana?"

"I was going to be executed for what I found. I prayed to the moon, I became ascended, I killed the elders." Diana drew a deep breath. "And when I saw Leona, I felt this—this urge, this primal rage, telling me I had to kill her as well."

"Yet you didn't."

"I wasn't physically ready to kill her," Diana defended. "Now every time I look at her my heart aches with rage, my fingers twitch and my head aches. It echoes with all these voices, telling me to kill, or they scream as though they are being killed."

Nasus raised a hand to rest on his chin thoughtfully. His brow furrowed. "Members of the Lunari?"

"You know of them?"

"I spend my time in a library. You learn a few things after a while."

Diana swallowed and nodded. "Yes, I think it's the Lunari."

"You've become a vessel for their souls, or perhaps something of the sort." The jackal grazed a claw along his jaw. "What exactly will killing Leona bring you, Diana?"

Diana was silent a moment, fingers tensing around her cup. Her grey eyes had shifted down, looking away from the Curator. She finally leaned forward, set the cup back on the table, stood, and exited the library.


AN: I think I might have to bump up the rating on this fic to M because I'm pretty sure most of the fight scenes are going to be bloody and a bit..gory to say the least. Anyway, I published this early because my college classes are going to be starting up soon so I'm not sure if I'm going to have much tme to write next week. Hope you guys enjoyed it.