A/N: This chapter ended up a lot more tragic than I expected it to be. Sorry! I actually had to cut it short since I ended up at 4.5k words with three scenes to go. Hope you guys like the plot twist, Midnightfluff thinks I am evil for it, which I am inclined to agree with. Next week's chapter will slightly continue the somber theme, but I will try to add in some silly so it isn't all doom and gloom. Also, I didn't realize this till Midnightfluff said this, but this is like the third or fourth chapter of just this one night D: really long day for them.
As usual make sure to leave a review! Let me know what you thought of the chapter, liked, hated, conspiracy theories for what you think I am going to do next, etc. Also let me know what you think of this more serious side of the story, obviously I will still have serious moments, but this is probably the most serious chapter I have had. One more thing! I hope everyone likes the progression rate of Irelia and Syndra's relationship, and I hope that I convey'd properly where I feel they are at.
Guest - Yep! If I have something I feel like I can reply to I will! Don't ask why I didn't start doing it earlier, because I have no clue!
Irelia was walking back to her house with Syndra. The festival was still going on. Irelia could hear the finale of the parade going in the distance. She guessed that it was probably around midnight, which meant that the festival was coming to a close. The street was still lit up, but all the vendors were gone and with them all the people. At the end of The Harrowing every year everyone gathered in the middle of the Placidium to see fireworks. Though, at the moment this wasn't of much concern to Irelia, she couldn't stop thinking about the mercenaries.
What is their motivation?
"Irelia?"
Who is the woman that hired them? Why does she want us dead?
"Irelia?"
Where are they hiding at? Sure he said they were in the mountains, but they cover thousands of miles. Without a lead it could take us years to actually find them. The neighboring provinces may have some information, though that is a gamble. Irelia thought to herself. Her mind was going a mile a minute with thousands of questions that had no answers to them.
Her concentration was broken when she felt someone shaking her shoulder. When Irelia finally snapped back into reality, she realized that is was Syndra who was trying to get her attention.
"Irelia?"
"Huh?" She asked, finally realizing that she had zoned out for the last ten or so minutes.
"Finally! I've been trying to get your attention for the last two minutes, but you've been staring into space the whole time."
"Oh, I'm sorry. What was it that you wanted?"
Syndra sighed, "I was trying to ask you if you wanted to watch the fireworks before we head back?"
"Hmm….I don't know."
"Aww….C'mon. Why not? What else would we do tonight?"
"We probably should get backed to Riven, see if she was able to reserve us some horses, and let her know what we learned."
"Pfft, what is she your mother? Do you have a curfew?"
Irelia unintentionally frowned slightly at the first part of Syndra's statement, "No, but it is getting late."
"Pleeeeeeeeease! It will be pretty! I mean, not as pretty as the Poros because they were just downright adorable, but they will still be good." Syndra said as she nuzzled up close to Irelia while they walked.
Irelia stiffened when Syndra made contact, what happened to my personal space!?
"W-w-we don't want to worry Riven." Irelia said uncomfortably
"What, do you have a curfew or something?" Syndra put her arms out questioningly
"What? Of course not."
"Well then come on!"
Irelia guessed that Syndra got tired of asking, because she grabbed Irelia's arm and started dragging her away towards where the fireworks was going to be. How Syndra knew where it was supposed to go off, Irelia didn't know. She assumed that Syndra had been to festivals before, which made Irelia ask herself:
How many other questionable people attend these festivals?
Syndra dragged Irelia through the streets with her arms wrapped around Irelia's arm, hugging it to her chest tightly.
Sheesh, I never thought it would be this hard to convince someone to go see some fireworks. She's lucky that she's cute and I'm stubborn… An image of Irelia's awkward response to being touched appeared in her mind. Gah, that face that she makes when I tease her is so adorable.
Syndra looked up at Irelia, whose face was beet red.
She's so cute when she's embarrassed. Is it bad that I get such satisfaction out of embarrassing her? Hm….Nah, probably not.
Irelia probably would have pulled her arm from Syndra if not for her grip. She let it be loose enough to be comfortable, but tight enough so Irelia wouldn't try to pull away.
"W-w-w-here are we going?" Irelia stammered.
"Some place to go see the fireworks of course!" Syndra responded cheerfully as she squeezed her arm again. Irelia stiffened slightly, but then slowly let herself relax.
"Oooooh, getting cozy?" Syndra asked as she looked up at Irelia. While doing this she released one of her arms and traced her finger up and down Irelia's bicep.
"No, though I am assuming you keep doing that to see me react. So I decided not to give you the satisfaction of seeing my embarrassment." Though Irelia's words sounded confident, her tone and expression told Syndra otherwise.
Hmm….playing hard to get? Good, I'm just starting to have fun. Now how can I up the ante? Syndra grinned to herself as a thought crossed her mind.
Syndra moved the finger from Irelia's arm up to her face, cupping her hand against Irelia's cheek for a second before sliding her hand down to her chin bringing their faces closer to the point of where the tips of their noses were almost touching. Syndra stared into Irelia's jade eyes. Syndra was about to touch her nose to Irelia's when they heard fireworks go off in the distance.
"Shoot! The fireworks are starting we have to hurry!" Syndra pulled away and grabbed Irelia by the wrist, actually breaking out in a full on sprint this time.
After a minute or two of running they finally made it to their destination. The building was tall and made mostly of dark stone bricks, it was simple like most of the structures in Ionia. Syndra wasn't sure that the building was used for even though she would visit it annually to watch the fireworks. It also served the double purpose of being a rendezvous point for her and Zed.
"Well, we are here!" Syndra said in between taking breaths, using her legs to help support herself.
When she looked up at Irelia was perfectly composed, what does she do that she is in such great shape? She doesn't even appear to have broken a sweat!
"I hope you weren't planning on climbing that building. Half the fireworks would be over by the time that we got up there." Irelia commented, looking to the top of the building.
"Just…give me a minute…to catch my breath…"
Irelia leaned over putting her hand on Syndra's shoulder, "Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah…I'm just…not used to running…" After a few seconds, Syndra asked herself, "Why didn't I float all the way here?"
After another minute, Syndra slowly forced herself to stand up straight. She walked in front of Irelia and put Irelia's arm around her shoulder.
"W-w-what are you doing?" Irelia asked.
I love how she can keep her composer while being attacked and facing a jailed criminal, yet whenever I touch her she startles easier than a bunny.
Syndra smirked as she started to float herself upwards, "Hold on tight!"
"Wait what? What are you doing!?"
As soon as their feet left the ground Irelia squared off towards Syndra and tightened her grip. She had one arm wrapping around Syndra shoulder down, and the other was coming up behind Syndra's left arm and hooking onto her shoulder. Irelia's chin was laying on Syndra's shoulder, she figured that from a distance it probably would look like an awkward hug. Truthfully, Syndra easily could of levitated herself and Irelia up separately with ease, but since Syndra wasn't done teasing Irelia yet she decided to keep that little tidbit to herself. Syndra made sure to float up as slowly as she could without Irelia being suspicious, she wasn't quite sure if it was because this was probably the closest contact that she would get willingly out of Irelia or if she just wanted to mess with her. Either way Syndra was enjoying herself the whole way up, she made sure to use a bit of her magic to help make sure that Irelia wasn't in danger of falling, though not enough that she would notice.
After a minute or two of floating, they finally made it to the top of the building. At the same time, the opening set of fireworks was just finishing up. Syndra slowly eased themselves onto the roof of the building, Irelia's feet hitting the ground slightly before Syndra's. After a few seconds Syndra realized that Irelia had her eyes closed and didn't realize that they had landed yet. She pondered continuing to mess with Irelia again, but decided against it.
"Irelia? We're on the roof now, you can let go." Syndra gently pried Irelia's arms off her shoulders. As fun as it was to have Irelia cling to her, she had a strong grip that started to make her shoulder ache after a bit.
When Irelia realized what Syndra had said, she quickly let go and hid her hands behind her back, and apologized for holding on for so long.
Syndra raised an eyebrow and chuckled at her apology, "You think after all I've done to you tonight that I mind you clinging onto me?" Syndra waved her arm and started to walk towards the front of the building, "Come on, the next set of fireworks is about to start." Syndra plopped herself down on the ledge, letting her feet dangle off the edge carefree. Irelia, however, was a bit more cautious but nonetheless joined Syndra in dangling her legs off the side. Syndra was surprised that Irelia ended up sitting so close to her, she wasn't as close as a lover would be, yet she was slightly closer than people who are just friends would be.
Wait, did all that stuff I did earlier actually have an effect or am I just imaging things?
Irelia slowly sat herself down next to Syndra, she wasn't used to sitting on top of buildings, especially without her weapon nearby in case she needed it to catch her. Shortly after Irelia got herself comfortable, the main set of fireworks started going off as Syndra predicted and the two of them sat in silence for a while enjoying the fireworks. Syndra was the first one to break the silence between them.
"I don't even remember what my parents look like." Syndra said somberly.
"What? I'm sorry, but what brought this up?" Confusion was embedded in Irelia's voice.
"Earlier when I made the remark about Riven being your mother, you looked saddened by it…I figured that I hit a sensitive spot."
When Irelia glanced over at Syndra she was staring at the fireworks still, but the cheerful expression she had on all night was replaced with a somber one. Whoa, she is serious. Truthfully I don't know much about her past…Every Ionian knows at least a bit about her, but there is nothing on her past. Irelia thought over next words carefully, she wanted to avoid unintentionally hitting a sore spot.
"What…happened to them?"
"I don't know, I was taken from them when I was seven."
It was a bright and sunny day, Syndra was outside playing games with her daddy as she did every Saturday. Their house was wooden like a lot of her friends' houses, but theirs was up on a cliff. They were still close enough to town that they could walk, but far enough away to maintain their privacy. Well, Syndra could walk there if she had Mommy or Daddy with her. Last time Syndra went to town by herself, Daddy was scolded by Mommy for letting her go alone and then Daddy talked to Syndra about it. Daddy told her that they were both grounded for a week, when Syndra asked why Daddy was grounded with her he said something about taking responsibility for your actions.
Syndra had just finished playing hide and seek tag with Mommy and Daddy. While she wasn't a fan of the tag part of it, it put a big smile on her parent's faces which was enough reason for Syndra to play. Right now Mommy and Daddy were leaning up against an apple tree, and on each other, next to their small house. They were watching Syndra practice her magic. She didn't understand why they enjoyed watching her practice so much, nor did she care. It put a smile on Mommy and Daddy's face which was good enough for her.
Syndra summoned three golden orbs in front of her that were a little bit bigger than her hand. She put them out in front of her like a staircase and started to try and climb them one by one. Her Mommy told her to be careful, but she kept going, putting one foot on the orb at a time and putting her arms out to maintain her balance. It took her a bit but she was able to get up to the first and then the second, and after a bit of struggle she made it up to the third. After reaching the third she cheered at her success, but this caused her to lose her balance and she fell, screaming towards the ground. Syndra closed her eyes as she tensed up, waiting to hit the ground, when it never came she opened her eyes to see why. All she saw was the sky and some clouds, when she turned to look towards the ground she saw her Daddy underneath her. It wasn't until now that she realized that his hands were wrapped protectively around her.
Her Daddy grunted as he sat himself up with Syndra still in his arms, "Are you okay?"
Though he wouldn't admit it, Syndra knew he had hurt himself catching her. Knowing this made Syndra sad, but she nodded anyway to answer his question.
Her Daddy gave her a gentle squeeze and a kiss on the forehead, before saying, "Good. Now today is my turn to make lunch, can you show Mommy some more of your magic while I cook?"
Syndra nodded again.
As her Daddy walked into the house, a man in bright flowing robes approached with two men lightly armored behind him. The man in the robes was about the age of Syndra's Mom-Mom, whereas the other men were about her Daddy's age. The older man's robes were white, with a thick gold lining that reminded Syndra of the golden orbs that were now floating around her upper body. This was where Syndra preferred to keep them whenever she could, but Mommy and Daddy only let her have them out at home.
"Elder? What brings you here to our simple home?" Her mommy said with quick, but deep bow.
"I hear you have a daughter who," When he noticed Syndra he kneeled down, "is quite the exceptional mage."
Syndra grabbed her Mommy's pant leg and hid behind it. She wasn't sure why but there was something about this man she didn't like.
"With all due respect, what my daughter does in her free time is none of your concern."
"Hmm…but it is. You see I have great interest in people with her…talents. We could use her for the good of Ionia."
Her Mommy waved her hand, "Not interested. My daughter is staying right here."
"But I insist. You and your husband are talented individuals, and you have done great services for this country, but neither of you are mages."
"If we need any help, we will be sure to ask for it. Now I would appreciate it if you left my family alone while we ate lunch." Syndra flinched at her Mommy's tone. She had never heard her be so serious before. Not even when she was scolding Syndra or mad at Daddy.
Her Mommy picked Syndra up, and the warm tone she was used to returned as she asked, "Now let's see what Daddy has prepared for lunch." Her Mommy started carrying her back towards their house.
As they started to walk away one of the guards grabbed her mommy's free wrist, "You don't leave till the elder tells you that you can bitch!"
Syndra watched as he Mom pulled her wrist in as she brought her leg up and hooked it onto the back of the man's shoulder. She felt like she was falling for a second as her mom leaned forward a bit and the man rolled forward and landed on the ground, flat on his back.
"Don't you dare use that language around my daughter!" The scary tone had returned to her Mommy's voice.
Her Mommy didn't notice, but the other man had moved to try and strike her. Syndra saw this and put her hands out as she screamed, "No!" Syndra ended up sending out a golden pulse of magic that struck the man and sent him flying down the hill.
She felt her Mommy straighten up again and turn towards the elder. "Now leave here, and never come back. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"
With this, her Mommy carried Syndra backed into the house, where they ate lunch and the rest of the day past by uneventfully. Life went by uneventfully during the next week for Syndra, at least until one morning she mysteriously woke up in the temple that would become her home for the next decade.
Irelia put a comforting arm around Syndra, pulling her close, who generously accepted the comfort. She remembered her father would do this to her when she was young and it always helped cheer her up. Surprisingly Syndra didn't try anything, no teasing, and no attempted embarrassingly close physical contact. Normally Irelia would be bothered by this sort of closeness, but she was willing to make an exception for Syndra this time. She didn't know her that well, but Irelia could guess that Syndra didn't open up to people often.
"So how did you end up in the temple?" Irelia asked
"I…don't actually know. It is all very vague, the only thing I can gather is that I was probably kidnapped…"
Why would they kidnap her? That seems very out of character for an elder to do… Syndra looked down at Syndra, she isn't lying though. No, her voice has too much pain in it for that. That may explain why so little is documented of her past…but who would do such a thing?
"Hey Irelia?" Syndra asked in a low voice.
"Yeah"
"Can you….not tell anyone about this? I…haven't actually told anyone about my past before."
"Not even Zed?"
Zed looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was the color of onyx with a hint of gray. While he wasn't nearly old enough for his hair to gray naturally, at 28, the stress from his job brought on the premature graying. His eyes were a deep red, and had scars covering a good portion of his body across his muscles. He had just gotten out of the shower, and for some reason had decided to look at himself in the mirror. With only a towel covering a small portion of his body, all his scars were in plain sight, staring back at him. Each one held a different story, he traced a scar that lined his cheek, he wasn't sure why but for some reason this caught his attention as memories flooded into his mind of that night a little over a decade ago.
Zed stood with a client as they explained what his job was. He was to kidnap a young female mage that lived with her parents. Zed had recently been banished from the Kinkou order for looking at the box and using it to defeat Shen. Personally he would have rather declined it since he felt the job was beneath him, but he desperately needed funds and the money was a lot for how simple the task was. This aspect worried Zed a bit since it usually denoted that the client was withholding information, but he figured he could handle it. If this was a normal job, he would have pressed the man about the lack of information, but since it was an Ionian Official he decided to hold his tongue.
"If only I knew…" Zed said to himself as the next part of the memory flooded into his brain, more quickly than he would have cared for.
Zed was in the room of the female mage he was supposed to kidnap, standing over her while she slept peacefully in her bed. Zed cursed to himself mentally, the client didn't tell him that the mage was only a child. Had he known that, he would have declined the job instantly regardless of the money. He knew better than anyone how tough it was to grow up without parents. However, he was honor bound to complete the job. Though that didn't mean he wouldn't have some choice words for the client when he was done. Zed took out a powder from his pocket and sprinkled it lightly over the girls head. He was told that it would make sure that the girl wouldn't wake up on his way to the temple he was supposed to drop the girl off at.
Getting cold feet? A voice in his head asked. He wasn't sure where it came from, but recently a voice that wasn't his own appeared in his mind. It was…unsettling to say the least.
As Zed leaned forward to pick up the girl from her bed an object flew across his face, cutting him along his cheek.
Zed turned to see a woman standing in the doorway with shurikens in her hand. He could swear that he could see a thoroughly pissed off expression on her face through the darkness, but he wasn't sure. Both of them stood there, neither of them moving, uncertain of what the other would do if they did.
"How did you know I was here?" He asked the woman in the doorway.
"Wasn't that shuriken to the face enough? Well if it wasn't then it is because I used to be one of you, well before I retired." The tone of her voice was very pointed, though given the situation Zed couldn't blame her.
"Interesting…Well I don't belong to the Kinkou order anymore."
"No matter, I would appreciate it if you would step away from my daughter."
"I cannot do that, I am contracted to acquire her for a client."
The tension in the air was thick as the two stared at each other. Zed wasn't quite sure how he was going to get out, if she truly was a former ninja like she claims then he wouldn't be able to outrun her. She had age on him so while he may be able to equal or surpass her in strength, he had to give her the benefit of the doubt that she was more skilled. Though he did have two advantages, it made him sick thinking about it, but he was closer to the girl than she was. Zed normally wouldn't stoop so low, but this mission kept getting sketchier and sketchier. He needed to complete it before anything else turned up. The second advantage he had was he had his equipment, whereas the woman was still in her night clothes equipped only with two more shurikens.
As quickly as he could, Zed snatched up the little girl from the bed. The woman in front of him cocked her arm like she was going to throw another shuriken but stopped when she realized her daughter was in danger.
"Please…don't do this. Just put her down, I'll let you leave like nothing happened and won't tell anyone about tonight." Her voice now was pleading.
Zed cursed to himself, the tone of the woman's voice unsettling him internally. He wished he could do as she said, go home and act like tonight was just a bad dream, unfortunately it was too late for that. Zed took a deep breath, one more move and he would be able to get out.
Zed quickly reached down, grabbed the bola on his belt, threw it at the woman and jumped out the window next to the girl's bed before even looking to see if the bola landed. As Zed ran off he heard a scream piece the night that chilled him to the bone, one that he would never be able to forget, nor forgive himself for causing. Not only did he just steal that woman's only child, but he was now going to put this little girl through growing up without her parents, just like he did. No, worse than him, he never knew his parents so not having them was easier for him, she was going to have to deal with the loss of her parents as well. Zed wasn't sure how, but he swore to himself that not only would he never do this again, but that he would find a way to make it up to this girl.
"Syndra." When Syndra didn't respond, Irelia looked down at her only to find out that she had fallen asleep. The fireworks had just ended and Irelia was going to say that they should get going.
Guess I'll have to carry her back… Irelia thought to herself, she didn't mind since Syndra was relatively light. Until another thought crossed her mind, how are we supposed to get down from here? Irelia shook Syndra trying to wake her up, the only response she got was Syndra wrapping her arms tightly around her. Irelia sighed to herself, I'm going to have to carry her the whole way back aren't I?
It didn't take Irelia long to get to the bottom of the building, luckily it was a public building so it was unlocked for the most part, and the parts that were locked had one way doors so that someone could exit without the janitors having to stay around all night waiting for people to leave. As Irelia walked backed to her house carrying Syndra, she reflected on everything that had happened tonight. If she had told herself that she would have met The Dark Sovereign a day ago, she probably wouldn't have believed herself. On top of that, that was carrying her back to her house and not into a prison cell. Truthfully Irelia didn't know why she never bothered to arrest Syndra, she certainly had enough crimes to justify it. Though Irelia had a hard time thinking that the woman in her arms was the same Dark Sovereign that the government told every about. Maybe it was Syndra helping her on two different occasions, maybe it was because she looked so much like the woman in her dreams. It could be that Irelia actually liked Syndra hitting on her, probably not, or something completely different that Irelia couldn't comprehend yet. Whatever the reason was it confused Irelia, but in a way that for some reason she didn't mind.
As Irelia walked up the sidewalk to her house, a sense of relief filled her that she was finally going to be able to go to bed. She wasn't sure where she was going to put Syndra, she sure wasn't going home tonight that was for sure, but for now she couldn't wait to go inside and enjoy the coziness of her home. Irelia fiddled with the door, upon opening it she almost dropped Syndra as she was greeted with almost everything inside of her house being obliterated into tiny pieces.
"What the…..what happened here?" Irelia mumbled to herself, before another thought crossed her mind, "Riven! Riven are you here!?"
A/N: One more thing! Explanation for Syndra's backstory and why I did it the way I did. Whenever I see backstories for Syndra she always has a tragic life with her parents and then leaves. To me whenever I read that it seems like her getting taken away from her parents is ultimately a good thing, as horrible as that sounds. So I decided to make her backstory happy and give her a normal childhood, that way the affect of her losing her parents is greater. That and she has beenn through so much, give her a break and let her have a happy childhood, well aside from being taken away and such. Also, hooray for swapped gender roles for Syndra's parents!