"Ugh…"
Twisted fate was just recovering from the apparent shock. The ballroom was in chaos, piles of debris on the floor and a large, fiery fireball in place of the original wall. The heat was intolerable, and his ears were buzzing, close to becoming deaf.
He looked around. The others were lying on the ground in separate places, having also suffered a few injuries. Twisted fate watched as they gradually stood up.
"We're under attack," Jarvan said in a hoarse voice. "They have decided to eliminate me by tonight."
"Valor!"
Quinn's face was of horror as she looked at something behind Twisted fate. He turned and saw a blue bird on the floor, lying still on the floor. She got up and ran towards the fallen Valor.
"Valor, Valor! Tell me you're alright!"
The bird's eyelids opened slightly. It flapped its wings slightly as if it was proving that it was still very much alive."
"Oh thank goodness, I thought for a second that you're already dead!"
As Quinn was comforting her bird, the bird chirped and flapped its wings, trying to tell Quinn something. She kneeled down and listened. Meanwhile, the other Demacians slowly stood up, having recovered from the blast.
"Where's the Royal guard?" Fiora asked.
Before the unexpected explosion, the royal guard was tied against a wall which was directly in the explosion radius. There was no sign of the man.
"Forget about him. Valor reports that a large number of grouped soldiers are moving towards your house roughly 600 meters away."
"We're facing a very dangerous situation. They have surrounded us, and if I predict correctly they will bombard their way in and if we still stay here we're dead meat. We're lucky that the full force of the blast was partially mitigated by the wall, but we have to make our moves now. First, we leave this place right now, then Sona, you're going away from this place and anywhere near fights. You have to take care of the injured back in the Royal Hospital because I guess there isn't enough manpower there right now. Fiora and Quinn, you will accompany Sona back to the hospital, and then get to the military camp nearby and take necessary action. I'm going to find and take down the High General."
"Wait, why do I feel like we're missing someone here?" Fiora asked.
"Twisted fate! Where's Twisted fate?" Quinn asked.
They looked around and other than a few of Jarvan's servants running around in panic, there was no sight of the Card master.
"We can't let him escape! Imagine if the world knows he's out of prison!" Fiora said.
"No, we don't have time for that. What we're dealing with right now is a matter of national security, and I bet it's more important than the gypsy. So take the documents—they're key to exposing this rebel scheme, and we're leaving now."
As the Demacians ran to the door hurriedly, a certain gypsy watched their move on the second floor, behind a railing. He grinned.
These people are just really bad in keeping watch of me. But what do I do now? Might be a good idea to roam around the house first. Maybe there are some resources I can use.
Suddenly he heard something below. Looking down, he saw a rather large glowing green circle on the floor. Something materialized slowly above the circle, bit by bit, gradually forming two human-like figures. Both of them were women, completely identical, with hideous appearances and knotted black hair. Their serpentine eyes glaring around the house, studying the environment. Their skins were white, almost as white as snow.
"You, search the house thoroughly. The High General ordered to kill them all. I wonder what their faces will be when they realize we're not on their side!"
"Yeah! They'll plead for our help, and then when they least expect it—we kill them! It's really fun!"
Both of them dissolved into laughter. Twisted fate thought their voices were creepy.
"You go this way, I'll go upstairs."
One of them walked away whilst the other went for the stairs. Twisted fate immediately backed away and ran towards a wall corner as silent as possible, not wanting to capture her attention. He hid behind the wall, whilst watching the woman's every move.
The witch sauntered up the stairs in a noble fashion. Once on the second floor, she turned right and went into another room. If she turned left she would have seen Twisted fate, and he would meet his end. The gypsy gave another sigh of relief.
But the woman wouldn't cease looking for survivors like him—she would inevitably run out of places and search the corridor he was occupying. And then no matter how much luck he could have, it was more likely for him to end up dead if he did absolutely nothing.
So he had to do something.
He observed his surroundings. There was a wooden table not far away. And on the table was a brown flower pot with a cactus planted in it.
The perfect weapon.
Twisted fate held up the pot. It was quite heavy, like a rock. He then went back to the wall corner, and remained in place, waiting for the mage's arrival.
He waited and waited, crouching down and prepared to strike the moment the woman's head showed up, but it never came, and his arms and legs were starting to ache. Eventually, he couldn't take it and sat down, putting down the pot and crossing his legs.
Surely there won't be any risk of sitting here. She'll make noise if she's coming, and I'm going to hear it well and clear—
Suddenly there was an explosion on the wall opposite to him.
He said nothing for his jaws were wide open, unable to speak, mortified of what had just happened. A crater the size of a head remained in place, with a trail of smoke.
How did she know I am here?
"I know you're there, hiding! Get out of the corner or face the wrath of my power! MUHAHAHAHA!"
Twisted fate suddenly felt fear.
Gosh, maybe she might be crazy enough to actually throw another of those energy balls at me, and I'm toast! Should I go out and reveal myself? Might be better than death.
He was wondering what to do when the woman continued,
"Never mind. I knew it all along that there's no one in this house. I have no idea why we have to search the place all over again when the bomb did the work for us. How boring this job is!"
Whew. Guess It's all in her imagination. She doesn't know I'm here after all.
He readied himself, as the clacking sound of the mage's high heels became louder and louder. She turned round the corner, her face clearly visible to him.
Twisted fate smashed the flower pot with all his might onto the mage's face with the spikes of the cactus. The woman instantly fell backwards, the cacti still on her face.
"Whew! That was unexpectedly easy. Can't believe these mages are so fragile and unprepared."
The gypsy leaned down and searched her pockets and clothes. He assumed that mages were supposed to bring along extra potions with them, and there might be something useful to him.
"Let's see—what do we have here?"
He fumbled and turned her pockets out, but strangely there wasn't even a single potion.
"Impossible!"
Feeling frustrated, he kicked the woman's body. Something dropped out of her clothes, emitting a familiar sound. Twisted fate went back and checked what the object is.
It was a bottle with blue liquid. A mana potion.
Immediately he had a change of heart.
"YYESSSSS! I'm free!" He shouted, loud enough for the whole floor to hear. He drank all the liquid in one gulp. A few seconds later he felt fully refreshed as if he was alive once again. He could feel his magical powers slowly returning to him. The gypsy raised his right palm right in front of him, and he ushered his mana towards his hand, causing his hand to glow blue. During this time, a deck of cards gradually formed in his palm.
The Card Master had returned.
Now that I regained my powers, let's think of somewhere to go first…
He walked out of the wall corner and saw the other mage standing on the same floor, right at the end of the staircase. Their eyes met.
"YOU! HOW DARE YOU KILL HER! YOU WILL DIE!'
She instantly threw a round blue projectile towards him. Twisted fate stepped back and narrowly dodged the blow, but the shockwave knocked him backwards. He got up immediately and drew out a green card.
Time to test out my new trick.
He went deeper into the corridor and distanced himself. Once the mage appeared the gypsy threw the card onto the ground in front of her. The mage summoned an invisible wall in front of her, attempting to block the card, but failed, because the card hit the ground in front of her instead. Suddenly, green smoke emitted from the card, and within seconds the woman was surrounded by a huge cloud of smoke.
It turned out that the card was like a smoke bomb—people just don't usually expect cards to be able to do these kinds of stuff, so it was a rather excellent trick in the moment. The mage was confused and terrified, constantly moving her magical barrier in all sorts of directions, but never able to protect herself fully. Twisted fate, meanwhile, had a clear line of sight on the woman due to his spell destiny, and he knew he had the upper hand.
He advanced slowly towards the smoke cloud. Strangely, the mage was struggling hard to escape from the smoke but failing miserably and misleading herself in the smoke. He drew out another few cards as he planned where to attack. The card master saw an opening at the woman's back, completely undefended and vulnerable. He threw his cards at her.
She dropped to the floor right after the cards went through her chest. Twisted fate grinned, satisfied with the result and his newly-tested trick.
Now, where do I go?
At this moment, he could just teleport himself out into the open, never to be seen again. A disguise would be easy to find, and he would be able to live like a normal citizen, do whatever he wanted to, whilst hidden from his pursuers and assassins. It was something he had longed for since he was captured.
But was this the life he was looking forward to? To return to the path he had been on for years, robbing others for his own gain? Besides, how sure was he that he would be able to escape unscathed? Even Demacia would target him as a fugitive, along with Piltover, after this scandal. He had never made so many enemies before and had no intention to do so. He disliked this kind of life.
Twisted fate drew his Card of Destiny and activated it. He closed his eyes and focused solely on his mind, searching for Jarvan. Suddenly an image surfaced.
The prince was out in the street, wielding his lance and facing a crowd of Demacian soldiers. He was severely outnumbered. The soldiers appeared to be hostile, and ready to take away the Prince's life.
What if he went and helped Jarvan? He might be able to even strike a bargain with him for something that might benefit him greatly, for example…
Never mind, I'll think of that later.
Besides, Vayne had saved his life once back in the house in Ionia. Shouldn't he repay the favor? Twisted fate had never thought of this kind of problems before, but he wanted to reform himself. To change himself.
I'd better not regret this, he thought as he threw his cards in a circle surrounding him.
Demacia was in chaos.
Civilians were running in the streets as multiple explosions occurred in various buildings consecutively, screaming in horror of such a surprise attack.
A large number of Demacian soldiers were stationed around the Lightshield house, surrounding it and blocking possible routes out of the house. All of them were armed, swords and bows ready. They were advancing towards the mansion, cautiously, ensuring that the prince wouldn't sneak away from their very eyes. Alongside the soldiers were a few tanks and a missile launcher, responsible for the explosion in Jarvan's house.
They were not Jarvan's saviors. In contrast, they were determined to eliminate Prince Jarvan IV tonight.
"All of you are to separate in groups and search for the prince. Don't let him get out of this alive." The leading general announced.
Meanwhile, the front door of the mansion was opened. From it came out four Demacians, sweating heavily.
"They cut off the signal of my wired telephone back in my room, so we're on our own for now until the Army comes. Remember, each of us has our own mission. Good luck. For Demacia."
Jarvan?
"Yes, Sona?'
I…I didn't expect this all along. To have so many people out there, wanting to kill us all. I can't believe things would end up like this.
"Neither do I. But we'll survive this, Sona. Do not fear."
"Jarvan, are you sure you don't need any help from us? At all?" Quinn asked.
"I'm more than capable of fighting alone, Quinn. You know this more than anyone. Plus the fact that Sona is needed in the Royal hospital at this very moment, and you two need to protect her well. I need to get to the military camp now to discuss tactics with Garen and Xin Zhao. We will confront the High General back in the palace if he's still there. You can come and help us after you've taken care of the civilians. We need the ensure the safety of our people before we find the culprit for all this mess. Now go, the lives of our people are at stake."
The other three waved goodbye and ran towards the Demacian Hospital. Jarvan was alone. He could feel the atmosphere uncomfortably silent and eerie as if an assassin would suddenly pounce out from nowhere. He had a sudden urge to continue staying in the house, fearful of what would happen if he ventured out. But wasn't he the Prince of Demacia? If wasn't even brave enough to overcome the fear of death, what would he be? Even an ordinary Demacian soldier was willing to sacrifice his own life. In addition, staying at his house would very likely be the most idiotic option, for the mansion surely would be searched by the enemy.
No. I will fight to the end. I won't be a coward.
Jarvan reassured himself that everything would be all right, though he himself did not think so. He walked over to the stables and went inside. He saw lots of horses, all of them strong and muscular, but only one was his favourite.
"Ah, my dear Adagio. How's your day? We're going on a trip now!"
The prince climbed onto the horse and removed the ropes that tied him up. The horse was covered in full metal armor, like a war horse. In fact, he was one of the best war horses in Demacia.
"Let's go!" He pulled the lead rope and the horse screeched, before trotting out of the stable. Another -explosion could be heard elsewhere as he walked into a street, which was rather wide and had two-to-three-storied buildings at the side. Not a person was to be seen.
"The High General—he will pay for all of this. If I survive, that is."
The horse galloped quickly for a while before eventually slowing down, moving one step at a time. Jarvan thought it would be wiser to make less noise. He held up his shield and his lance, cautiously glancing around, ready to fight at any second.
Then he picked up some noise. Someone was shouting in the street next to his.
The prince's body tensed up, and looked around more frequently than he had, especially for the windows and alleyways. He had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
Jarvan guided his horse into an alleyway nearby. He got off the horse and gestured him to hide behind a rubbish cart and kneel down as much as he could, himself doing the same, and waited.
The sound of footsteps could be heard, but he had no idea who it belonged to. Was it his ally? His enemy? Or something else? He had to wait until they showed their faces.
In the distance, a group of Demacian soldiers could be seen passing the entrance of the alley, continuing going forward through the street. All of them wore heavy armor and helmets. Jarvan originally planned to stalk the person, but he kept silent, not wanting to start a fight with so many of them. Likewise, he wasn't even sure if they were his enemies.
"The army is coming for us. If we fail to find Jarvan, our plan will be foiled completely!"
"Don't worry. We'll reach his home and find him easily. It's impossible for him to escape from us. We got him surrounded."
Ok. Now I'm sure they're my enemies.
Jarvan was silent. Yet his horse didn't have the same idea.
The horse pushed the rubbish cart with his hooves.
The soldiers stopped. The prince was sure they had heard the noise.
What have you done? You're putting our lives at stake!
"Who's there? Show yourself or you'll meet your end!"
It was too late. Jarvan could no longer hide. He climbed on the horse.
"Prince Jarvan? I can't believe you're here! The enemy is approaching soon, and you need our help! Follow us!"
"That's a lie, General. I've heard all you said earlier."
The General paused for a second.
"Fine. Too bad we won't spare you either."
"Really? More like I won't spare you from this! You've committed treason, the worse crime one can commit in Demacia!"
"Who cares. Your country will fall, prince. Face our wrath!"
The soldiers ran towards Jarvan just as Jarvan led the horse into the upcoming battle.
"For Demacia!"
The war horse dived into the swarm of men, knocking them over, while Jarvan lowered his lance to his right and pierced through the chests of the soldiers, ignoring their armor. His shield blocked many strikes from the left side, enabling him to stay on the horse. When Jarvan emerged from the crowd, he had already taken down seven to eight men, lied on the floor. His lance was full of blood. Meanwhile, his horse took a few sword strikes but wasn't injured, for its armor protected the horse well. If it weren't for that, plus the years of training it had received, the horse would have died long ago.
Just as he thought he would easily defeat these men, he saw something on the ground below the horse. Something olive in colour…he inspected it.
It was a grenade.
"Get out!" He yelled as he ushered the horse to leave the spot as fast as he could. But the grenade was faster and it detonated. Jarvan felt himself flying briefly into the air along with the horse, before hearing a loud "thump" as his back hit something hard.
The prince laid on the ground. Thanks to his armor, he was unaffected by the blast. He got up swiftly and picked up his lance. He saw his horse, who also didn't look hurt but seemed unable to get up himself. At this moment, the Demacians—the traitors—advanced towards Jarvan.
Jarvan didn't have enough time to help his horse, so he went after the soldiers instead. He could see himself in a one-versus-seven scenario.
Shouldn't be a problem, isn't it?
As the guards reached him, they grouped together and raised their shields in unison. Together they formed a shield wall, seemingly impenetrable. They moved forward step by step.
Jarvan knew this—he had once seen the army practice this move, and they're using it against him. The soldiers blocked the way out, so he had to go in the opposite direction, away from them. He looked back.
But the prince was down on his luck, for there was another group of soldiers on the opposite side. They, too, stood together and formed a shield wall. Both pathways were blocked. The buildings on the two sides of the street had their doors closed, and would take time if he wanted to break into it, which was something he severely lacked for the time being. He couldn't magically fly into the air, and couldn't dig underground like a mole did. There was no way for him to escape. At first, he was confident that he could defeat seven men, but with the extra soldiers behind, he knew he would die to them no matter what.
Jarvan was trapped in the open. Had he knew this inevitable outcome, he would surely go back to his house and wait for help. Now…there was no going back.
"You're good as dead, Jarvan. Where do you think you can go? You can't get through the shield wall, and don't think you can run through us."
That moment, Jarvan really thought this was over. He noticed the soldiers did not have armor at their backs, but how on earth would he be able to hurt their backs without being taken down first?
I'm sorry, Father. I have failed you once again.
He failed to see a white circle forming behind the unsuspecting soldiers. The light became brighter and brighter as a man appeared from the circle. He looked rather…familiar. The figure was holding a stack of cards between his fingers. He threw the cards towards the backs of the soldiers, each of them in separate directions. No one saw that coming.
Which was why Jarvan was astonished when the once-intimidating soldiers fell forwards and buried their faces on the ground.
"What…what is this?"
He looked up and saw his savior. Which only made him even more astonished.
"Looking for me, Prince?"
"Twisted fate? But how did you get your mana?"
"Had a visitor in your house who kindly handed her mana potion to me," he coolly answered. "Involuntarily, of course. But anyway, what did I miss?"
"Those traitors are after me. Can you teleport us out of here now?"
"Nah, I just used the spell and it will take a while until I can use it again. My spells have cooldowns, after all."
"Ok. Protect me until we find our way out."
"Not a problem. Shall we go forward?"
"Sure. Let's get out of this place. But first, let's deal with the soldiers, ok?"
The soldiers at the back, at first confused, were now charging towards the two.
"I'm perfectly fine with that," he answered. "I've been longing for a real fight."
As he spoke he drew out a stack of cards. First, he threw a green card onto the floor, engulfing the area with green smoke in seconds, scattering the soldiers. He then threw blue cards at the soldiers, not linearly, but in a curved route such as to avoid the shields of the soldiers, and towards their unprotected back. Most of the soldiers only held the shields at the direction against Twisted fate, and thus these unfortunate men died in a single blow. There are some more experienced ones, however, who had dashed out of the smoke as soon as it struck and blocked the cards successfully. They charged at Twisted fate, together.
That's not the end of his spells, though.
Twisted fate threw red cards at the soldiers, one at a time. The soldiers' shields proved ineffective as the red card's shockwave knocked them into the air or backwards.
"I didn't expect your cards to be that powerful," Jarvan shouted, watching the whole scene in awe while fighting two soldiers at a time.
"You must have underestimated my true strength," he replied, "or it might be related to the mana potion—I feel like its enhanced—"
"Twisted fate! Behind you!"
The card master immediately drew out a yellow card and threw it backwards. The familiar sound caused by the impact of the card could be heard as he saw the attacker—a soldier who had strangely survived all his attacks. He was wielding a sword, raising it in mid-air and appeared to be attempting to slice Twisted fate's head into half—if it weren't for his intervention. The card hit directly on the man's chest, so he stood there, not moving for two or three seconds, before collapsing.
By then Jarvan was also finished with his own company—no one was left standing. In the end, all of the soldiers lied on the floor, unconscious or dead. The prince had helped his horse get up, and was now sitting on the horse.
"Well, pretty good skills there, Twisted fate."
"I appreciate the compliment."
A "swoosh" sound could be heard from the sky as he spoke. Before he had a chance to react, an explosion occurred in a building not far away. The whole building toppled over and crashed to the ground.
Twisted fate watched the whole scene in shock.
"What was that?"
Twisted fate had never seen something like this before, but as a former veteran commander of the military, Jarvan fully knew what it is.
It was a missile fired from a rocket launcher.
It was the first successful launcher the military had made, and though it was old when compared to the latest version, it still had the power to demolish anything within its rather large blast radius. If anyone managed to stand near its blast zone, he's good as dead.
"We got company, Twisted fate. I guess they've known our position and are bombing us! We have to dodge the missiles! Get on the horse, now!"
After Twisted fate climbed on the horse hastily, Jarvan pulled the reins and the horse galloped quickly.
"We have to get off this street as soon as possible! Keep on guard, Twisted fate. We're only one mile away from the military camp!"
Just then they turned left and entered another street. Twisted fate saw a huge group of soldiers in the distance, blocking the way out of the street. They seemed to just stand there, anticipating both of them.
"Jarvan, you see that, right?" Twisted fate asked the prince.
"I know. But it's dangerous if we turn back. I'm sure they have sent reinforcements for us, now that all of them know where we are. If we bypass these men, we can easily get to the camp, and we'll be safe."
"Fine."
As they neared the group of soldiers, Jarvan ordered the horse to slow down. They stopped a mere few meters away from the bloodthirsty men.
"Prince Jarvan! Are you here to surrender to us? Glad you finally thought this over. And who's this funny-looking guy behind you?"
"Actually," Jarvan said, smiling, "you'd better surrender to us."
"Oh, really? Look at you, Jarvan! You think you yourself can fight over a hundred men here? You might be the royal prince in this country, but this doesn't make you acquire the power of hundreds."
"I don't, but the person beside me does."
By then, Twisted fate had already gotten off the horse, and stood next to Jarvan. Deep down, he was overjoyed that none of the soldiers recognized his true identity—which made his job easier.
In a millisecond (literally), he reached for the stack of red cards in his pocket, took them out, and threw all of it at once towards the unsuspecting soldiers. The cards were spread out and travelled so quickly that the soldiers did not even know what hit them. The cards flew over their heads and struck in the huge group of soldiers, and a second later the cards created magically-infused explosions upon impact. The pure magic itself killed some soldiers directly, whereas the shockwaves scattered the originally-grouped men. There wasn't even enough time for the soldiers to react.
In just a moment, the group had lost a quarter of its men, and some were injured from the blast. The soldiers stared at Twisted fate for a few seconds, unable to believe their eyes. Then they charged towards the Card master.
In response, Twisted fate drew out more cards and threw them one by one at the men, in quick succession, while starting to run away. This time the men protected themselves using their shields, but it was of no use. The cards were able to adjust its course, and they aimed towards the exposed parts of the soldiers, plus the fact that it was really speedy. Each of the soldiers fell, one by one, as Twisted fate continued his onslaught. Any soldier who was nearing Twisted fate was targeted and killed almost immediately. Yet they continued to chase the gypsy.
Strangely, the soldiers seemed to forget Jarvan's presence. They only had the notorious Card master in their eyes. They just ran towards him, completely ignoring Jarvan even when they ran past him. Jarvan was bewildered and had no idea what to do.
Twisted fate sure knows how to steal the spotlight.
All of a sudden from the corner of his eye he could see a sword heading for his head. In instinct, he lashed out and slammed his lance towards the incoming sword. He was just in time to block the lethal head-strike from a soldier.
"Can't believe you want to pick a fight with me. Then I'll play along."
At the same time, Twisted fate was still running away from the soldiers, though the number of soldiers had already decreased drastically, all the others killed by the Card master singlehandedly. Things were bright for the card master so far. However, Twisted fate was starting to slow down as he wasn't as well-trained physically as the Demacians. The soldiers, on the other hand, was an arm's length away from him.
Twisted fate counted the number of men left. Less than 20. He decided to stop running and start fighting head on. He turned around and unleashed three cards onto the closest man's face. The man was slow and the cards sliced through his head before he could even react. The cards then kept on their momentum, killing two other soldiers behind the unfortunate man in the same way. Twisted fate stood still and glanced around.
14 soldiers left.
The soldiers came to a halt, realized the same thing, and looked at each other. Their boldness started to fade from their faces. They couldn't believe that so few of them were left. The soldiers concluded that there was no hope in continuing to chase the Card master.
They ran in the opposite direction instead. The tides were turned.
And for this, Twisted fate cracked a smile.
Can't believe Demacia trained soldiers like these.
Unfortunately, the gypsy wasn't keen on letting them get away that easily. He drew out another deck of cards and sent them towards the legs of the fleeing soldiers. In the end, the fates of those men were equivalent to those lying on the floor, thanks to the Card Master.
Twisted fate looked farther away and saw Jarvan dueling with a soldier, neither gaining any significant advantage. He then drew a card and threw it towards the soldier far away. The card flew a large distance before finally slicing through the surviving soldier's neck.
Jarvan then noticed the number of bodies on the street.
"Wait…what? You did this…to them?"
"Well, your troops sure are rather weak, to be honest."
"Maybe it's because they never fought an enemy like you, Twisted fate. We were trained to fight armies, not mages. The armor we wore weren't too resistant to magic. I should reflect this to the Commanders though—we must be able to retaliate against magical threats."
Twisted fate himself guessed it was the extra effects of the mana potion once again.
"Anyway, after that fight I think I have regained enough mana to channel the teleport spell."
"Ah, very nice. Try to search whether anyone is nearby."
The gypsy drew out his Destiny card. After a while he replied,
"I see Garen. He's commanding a number of troops, not far away from here."
"Wait, how do you know Garen? Oh, never mind. Let's get there right now."
"How about me? Will they tolerate my presence?"
"Don't worry, let me deal with that."
"We'd better get to the palace right now if what you've said is all true, your Majesty."
Twisted fate was together with Jarvan, Garen (someone he really despised) and a man wearing heavy armor, also wielding a long spear—presumably the "Xin Zhao" Jarvan was talking about. All of them were riding horses, galloping across streets as they headed for the most probable place the High General would be in. Twisted fate sat right behind Jarvan, on the same horse.
"Forget the formalities, Xin. Just call me Jarvan. On top of that, I'm not even officially the King of Demacia."
Originally, none of them expected Twisted fate to follow.
"Jarvan, are you sure we'll bring along Twisted fate? He doesn't look very suitable for our mission." Garen told the prince, back in the headquarters.
"I'm not even sure if he wanted to. But now we need as much help as we can get in a dire situation like this."
"As I said before, he's not a person to trust."
"But he juts saved my life not long ago. I believe I owe him something. Give me a moment."
"I can hear that." Jarvan turned around and saw Twisted fate standing right beside him. He might even have stood there for long, overhearing the whole conversation, and both himself and Garen hadn't noticed it one bit.
"Oh. Ok. Twisted fate, what we are going to do later on is that—"
"You're going to get to the palace and find the High General," he interrupted, "and kill him or something."
"Guess we spoiled too much," Garen commented coldly, crossing his arms.
Meanwhile, Jarvan was wondering what to do. Recruiting Twisted fate into the mission might be a big help for them, as his unique teleportation and magical abilities were something the Demacian military never had. On the other hand, convincing him to join seemed difficult, unless…
He came up with an idea. It might as well work.
"You want a reward if you agreed to help us, right?"
Twisted fate flinched slightly. He thought Jarvan easily saw through him and knew what he was thinking.
"Well then, if you successfully helped me defeat the High General, I'll do as much as I can to award you since I will be King in the next few days. You have my word."
That was what the gypsy wanted to hear most. He agreed in his mind with what Jarvan had said and suddenly felt more enthusiastic about the whole event.
"Deal."
Jarvan turned around and extended his hand to him. It took a moment for him to realize that he was intending to shake hands with him.
"Oh, sorry. Guess I had to learn more about being a civilized person."
"And I can't thank you enough for saving me back there. I really would have died without your help."
"Well, it's all about the "mutual trust" you said before, right?"
Jarvan laughed. He had never seen this side of Twisted fate.
"I see one of my men in front of us. He's waving at us!"
A Demacian soldier, also riding a horse, was in the distance, heading towards them. He was doing a gesture, which was like—
"Halt! He's motioning us to stop! Let's see what he has to say!" Xin Zhao pulled the reins of his horse and slowed down to a stop. Jarvan and Garen did the same. The soldier also stopped his horse and got off. He ran towards Xin Zhao.
"General Xin! The palace…it's taken over by the rebels. I think everyone inside the palace is killed by the High General…they've taken over the whole palace! We had the castle surrounded, but they had disabled the drawbridge and we couldn't get in!"
Garen and Xin Zhao opened their mouths in shock; Jarvan's face suggested he was unable to take in the message. He placed his hand on his chest. Again, Twisted fate had no idea what to say. There was a moment of silence.
"Guys, I thought we need to get to the palace as soon as possible," Twisted fate reminded.
"You're right. We can't waste any more time. Let's go."
Jarvan gestured Garen and Xin Zhao to leave.
"And thank you, soldier, for this important information."
Twisted fate noticed the fearful expression on the soldier's face, his mouth stretched and eyebrows pulled up.
"Yes…yes sir."
The gypsy thought that Jarvan was shaken up by the sudden news, hence the atmosphere changed around him. The prince completely stopped talking and only gazed forward for the whole trip. The others, including himself, noticed that and said no more.
Soon, the Demacian castle could be seen in the distance. He could see fire and smoke on the upper floors of the huge building. After a while, they reached in front of the moat, where the portcullis at the round-shape entrance could be seen. Demacian soldiers stood there, waiting for them.
"Jarvan, thank god you're here! They withdrew their bridge, and now we can't get across!"
"Don't worry. I'll find my own way," Jarvan answered. "But are you sure the High General is in there? He didn't sneak away, right?"
"We're positive he's still inside the palace."
"Good." He looked at the drawbridge. Except that the bridge was stationed on the other side and that was the one and only way to get into the palace. Otherwise, they would have to swim across the moat, which was never designed for allowing anyone inside to escape.
"The scoundrel," Jarvan was clenching his fists. "How dare he do this to me…"
"You can teleport all of us in?" Xin Zhao asked.
"I can't teleport all of you at once. I can only bring one along with me," Twisted fate replied.
"You can pull down the bridge for us after you get in," Garen suggested. "That way we can all go in. But who's going with him?"
"I'll go with him," Jarvan said.
Twisted fate began to channel Gate. White light surrounded him as he laid the cards on the floor. Jarvan stood in the circle, already knowing what to do. In a second they disappeared into thin air and left nothing behind.
"Sometimes I just really envy his powers," Xin Zhao said. "Imagine if I possessed the power to teleport freely. Things will have been so much easier for me."
In the meantime, Twisted fate and Jarvan reappeared right behind the portcullis of the gate, inside the castle.
"Can't believe no one is guarding this place," Twisted fate said. "They must haven't expected someone like me to knock on their door."
Jarvan pulled a switch on the wall. The drawbridge was lowered slowly and slowly until it met the surface where Garen and Xin were standing. As they ran across the bridge, Jarvan rose the portcullis to let them enter.
"That was easier than I expected," Garen said. "I thought there would be dozens of guards."
"But it's pretty obvious someone's been here already."
Jarvan pointed at something on the floor. Twisted fate looked at that direction and saw a few bodies in place. Their features were unrecognizable.
"We need to get to the upper floors. The High General might be in the throne room." Xin Zhao suggested. "We'll take the stairs."
The group went for the staircase, which wasn't far away. It was a well-built spiral staircase with white walls.
Will it be that easy? There's no one guarding this place, and nothing looks wrong—"
Twisted fate suddenly heard a creaking noise. Immediately afterwards, the stairs in front of him collapsed. Garen was directly standing on it, so he dropped straight towards the ground below, the debris falling onto him. The others instantly froze, not wanting to step forward.
"Garen? Garen!"
Xin Zhao and Jarvan ran down the stairs and rushed to Garen. They picked up the pieces of debris one by one, and gradually removed the layer bit by bit.
"I'm fine, guys," Garen mumbled, still lying under the debris. "My armor saved me. I do think I can get out myself though. Ugh…"
"You're unscathed, excluding those small cuts on your face. We shouldn't go with the staircase—there might be more booby traps along the way. I know a secret path leading to the throne room, on the other side of the palace. Follow me."
Twisted fate followed Jarvan as they went through many different rooms, which all looked fascinating to the gypsy. The palace was close to a paradise for Twisted fate—without the constant number of bodies seen on the floor in every room.
Just then, they reached the end of the corridor. They seemed to had entered a painting room as a splendid number of paintings were hung all around the room.
"What's so special here, Jarvan? I've been here before, and I think it's nothing more than a room of display—"
Jarvan shushed Garen with his finger. He walked closer towards a certain painting at the very end of the corridor, which showed a two-dimensional appearance of the palace.
What he did next was out of Twisted fate's imagination.
Jarvan put both of his hands on the painting frame. He then exerted force on it, turning the whole painting in a clockwise direction. During this time, Twisted fate could hear something at his back, the sound similar to metal wheels rotating. He looked back and saw a part of the wall move inwards, then upwards, slowly revealing a dark passageway in its place. When Jarvan had turned the whole painting once, the secret entrance opened fully, around two meters tall. Twisted fate then realized that although the room was full of paintings, there wasn't a single of them around the entrance of the passageway.
Garen and Xin Zhao just stood there, motionlessly watching the whole scene, their jaws were dropped the whole time. Twisted fate guessed they were new to this fact as well.
"Guys, this is a generation-old family secret. The time when this castle was built, my great-grandfather had requested to build a secret passageway that connects the throne room to the outside world, in case we are under attack. So far only my family knows this, and I presume no one had actually used this. But now since it's the only way to get up there, I have no choice but to unveil this age-old passageway. Don't tell anyone about this, gentlemen. Especially you, Twisted fate."
The others nodded, including Twisted fate. Then they went into the tunnel, which was once again a spiral staircase. It also led downwards other than upwards.
"This leads to an exit far away from here. That's where this passageway leads originally." Jarvan explained. "But we're heading up now. The length of the staircase is pretty long though, mind you. We have to go up right now. Time doesn't wait."
Jarvan lighted his torch and ran up, as the others followed. The Demacians ran in a steady but rather agile speed. Meanwhile, he was already panting for breath after only a minute, unable to keep up.
"We'll meet you upstairs, Twisted fate. Just follow the stairs." Jarvan shouted, leaving Twisted fate behind as the Demacians disappeared from his sight.
Really wished I had enough mana to channel Destiny.
A man stood on the balcony, observing the Demacian city as moonlight shone onto him.
The throne room was located on the highest floor of the whole palace, connected to the balcony. One could gaze at the view of the entire city on the balcony. The man was in full gold armor, still wearing the King's Crown—though he was only temporarily replacing Jarvan the fourth. He was old, with wrinkles on his face.
The city was in chaos—fire and smoke could be seen among the buildings as the missile launchers continued their rampage. He couldn't see his troops, but he knew they were following his orders. His master plan was to succeed tonight.
Just then, he heard the sound of metal wheels. He arched his eyebrows, then looked at the city for one last time before walking into the throne room.
On the wall in front of him, a rectangular hole slowly opened up right beside a painting of the palace, as the wall raised. He couldn't believe his eyes. Out of the hole stepped out three men, whom he knew well, fully armed.
"High General William! You're under arrest!" Jarvan announced loudly.
"Jarvan? Garen? Xin Zhao? What…what's behind you?"
"None of your business, traitor. It's a secret of this palace you will never get to know."
"Grrrr…I should have known that! I've ordered my men to keep watch of every single floor in this palace…but not this tunnel. You do have some brains, prince, and I misjudged you. However, I'll still take on all three of you easily." As he spoke, he drew out a huge golden sword.
"You caused the chaos in the city, right? Why did you do that? We are all Demacian, and we're supposed to be united and strong! Bring peace not only to our nation but to the whole of Valoran! What you have done does exactly the opposite! And you've disclosed our governmental secrets to an outsider—"
"Wait, how do you know so much? Must be one of my men who told you these. But anyway, what you've said are all correct. And guess who I disclosed all the information to?"
"Noxus, isn't it." Garen clenched his teeth. "You were born Demacian! Why do you turn your back on us and work for that deceitful nation?"
"Really? You people still don't know?" The High General sneered. "I guess if I never tell you, you'll never know about this! You see, my documents claim I was born in Demacia—but my parents were Noxian spies."
The Demacians did not expect him to say that.
"Actually, my family line had all been Noxian spies since the day Demacia was established. All of us held important positions in the Demacian government, and yet we were never discovered. We fed Noxus with important information, and thus we were always one step ahead of you fools. But to minimize any suspicions, we couldn't expose all of them at once, which is why your nation lives peacefully—until today."
"We have planned your assassination many years ago, Jarvan, along with your father. Because with the two of you dead, we will easily crush Demacia. Remember the "conscription policy" I suggested that time? The system was rigged, and we had secretly recruited Noxian soldiers into the army, without any of you suspecting! It's quite the number of men, and they all proved to be useful on this occasion. I assume you know we've planned to kill you tomorrow, during your speech. Unfortunately, one of my men discovered that you intruded into our hidden base under the warehouse this morning, right? Well, I decided to play safe and launch a surprise attack on you tonight to guarantee success. I still don't quite understand how you got out of that mess—my soldiers had you surrounded heavily."
"I received a little help from someone," Jarvan answered.
"Let me guess…the prisoner who you broke out of the dungeon?"
"Wait, how do you know that?"
"Do you think I am stupid enough to confirm that Twisted fate is supposed to be dead? When the assassins didn't reply, I was suspicious and sent my men to check. And oh boy, I never expected the assassins to be the ones dead, and the target missing! Let me guess…you wanted help from Twisted fate to look for Vayne, right? And speaking of which, I think you know already that we have Vayne in our hands."
"I know that. And you will pay if you dare even touch her!"
"Your angry face really entertains me, Jarvan. Poor Vayne. Even she didn't expect we would kidnap her. But that's what happened. She was surrounded in the warehouse that night, alone with no help, against us. And we took her down easily. I mean, really easily. But Vayne's disappearance encouraged you people to look deeper into us, which was, I admit, rather disruptive to our plans. I should have thought of the consequences of my actions. And after Twisted fate was sent to prison, I've sent my men to eliminate him for good. Turned out it failed."
"Are you the one who killed my father?" Jarvan asked.
The High General was silent for a few seconds.
"Tell me!" He shouted.
"Well, well, look who's angry? Too bad I'm not your father's killer, though I would be honored to be the one. On the flip side, I do know who killed your father. Don't bother to ask, Jarvan. I'm not kind enough to tell you that."
"Why did you tell us all of this?"
"Your deaths are inevitable, gentlemen. There's nothing I'll lose telling something to a dead man, isn't it?"
"And what makes you so confident?" Xin Zhao's tone was challenging.
"You're facing the man with the highest authority in Demacia, and you think I don't have weapons of my own?" He walked to his throne slowly and picked up a large metal shield, placed right underneath. The Demacian crest could be seen on it.
"The Randuin's Omen," Jarvan growled. "How dare you use my father's artifacts!"
"Your father said that it is to be handed over to the next successor of the throne. Well, I am the successor he appointed, so of course, I have the right to use it. I assume you know the strength of this shield, right?"
"You know very well Noxus can never be trusted, don't you? They'll abandon you some point in the future, deeming you useless to them. And yet you choose to follow that evil nation?"
"On the contrary, Prince Jarvan. I was actually pretty well paid by them in the past and will continue to after this historical event. The rewards I received for working for them—it's so, so much better than in Demacia. And now I will stop you from foiling what we have planned for years." He smiled devilishly, turning into a completely opposite of who Jarvan thought he was.
"Now, I will kill all three of you—in the Demacian way. And this is a deathmatch, my fellow Demacians. You won't be going anywhere other than this room. It's either you or me."
"I will not succumb to you! Never!" Xin Zhao charged at the High General, still holding his spear. In a blink of an eye, Xin Zhao closed the distance between himself and his enemy in less than a second. It was a technique he had practiced for years, and he often used it in battles, almost guaranteed to catch his target completely off guard.
However, he was facing an enemy who knew him all too well. The High General had anticipated this.
He positioned the shield between him and Xin Zhao and made his spear hit the metal instead, negating the entire blow. At the same time, the shield absorbed the force of Xin Zhao's blow—and rebounded right back to the attacker. Xin Zhao was knocked back by the force, landing right beside the two men, who watched the whole scene.
"Your old tricks won't work against me, Xin," William shouted. "And you two think you stand a chance against me?"
'Not as easily as you imagine, William!" Jarvan and Garen launched their attack on the High General. Garen's sword glowed and he jumped up, ready to smash it down onto the man. Jarvan leapt and was doing the same, apart from wielding a different weapon and attacking in a different angle.
The High General did not even flinch. Holding the Omen and the golden sword, he raised both of them and blocked both of their blows separately. Jarvan was knocked back by the shield, leaving Garen alone with him.
"How about we fight like a man?" William swung his sword at Garen, forcing him to be on the defensive, clashing his sword with the High General's, the sound of metal clanking against metal travelling through the air. Unfortunately, the High General was physically stronger than Garen, and his sword was way tougher and powerful than Garen's. After a few strikes, William drew back his sword briefly before he struck again, this time using all his might.
Garen's sword was knocked away.
Right after that, he pierced his sword into Garen's chestplate, going through it. Jarvan watched in horror.
"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Garen backed off, pressing both of his hands against his wound. He was lucky that he was wounded in the abdomen instead of in his heart, and he was very lucky that his organs weren't stabbed.
"You're weaker than I thought, gentlemen. As your former military commander, I expect more from you people—"
He swung round instantly and blocked another attack from a recalcitrant Xin Zhao with the shield. He once again was knocked back.
"Your father had some really, really divine artifacts. I had to say, it might not be that you're weak—it might be just that I'm basically godlike with these weapons. You father had orders to give them to me after his death, and ironically, I'm going to use them to end your life. He might be regretting it right now, but it's all too late."
"You idiots come here and challenge me to a duel. Yet now you're already suffering injuries, and I'm not even hurt. Pretty stupid act, isn't it? I wonder who's going to save you now…"
At this very moment, someone stepped out of the hole where Jarvan came from. He was panting and sweating heavily.
"Ah, Twisted fate. I was wondering whether you will come and join them. Guess I was right."
Twisted fate was somewhat dumbfounded that he deduced his identity in only a few seconds, but he decided not to speak about it nonetheless.
"So." He was still panting for breath. "You are the High General? You're the one…who ordered those assassins to kill me…in the dungeon, right?"
"Indeed. And I can see that they failed. But I will ensure your death this time, now that you've come straight into the lion's den."
Twisted fate drew out a stack of gold cards and flung them all at William. He deflected most of the cards with his shield, but a few hit his armor and its magical effects kicked in, stunning him briefly, rendering him unable to move.
Then a blue card struck his armor. Yet the High General remained standing, still stunned but unhurt by the card, it dropping harmlessly to the ground. Right after that, he regained consciousness.
"My armor is supposed to be resistant to magic, but I can't believe your stun bypassed my resistances entirely. Anyway, now it's my turn."
He dropped his head and scarcely avoided a lance travelling in high speed, aimed for his head. It flew harmlessly over his head.
"Give up, Jarvan! You might be persevering, but you have to admit you cannot defeat someone as skilled as me!" He turned back to Twisted fate. "I've heard many stories of you, Card master. About how you managed to evade hundreds of bounty hunters and the whole police force in Piltover. However, you chose to show yourself in a room where there is clearly no escape, and nowhere to hide. That stupidity—didn't expect that from someone like you."
Twisted fate's eyes betrayed his fear.
He raised his golden sword and pointed it at the gypsy. "Do you know how much this sword weights? Around 15 pounds. It's likely the heaviest sword in the whole nation. You might be able to deflect small knives with your cards, but this? I doubt that. And I'm sure you won't be fast enough to outrun my sword."
As the High General spoke, Twisted fate noticed movement behind the proud Demacian as if the air was moving. He swore he had seen something.
"Give up, Twisted fate. Your cards won't save you, your friends won't save you, and you can't save yourself. Your luck has officially run out."
Right after he finished, Twisted fate could see an arrow heading towards William's back.
"Aarrgh!" The High General collapsed to the floor, dropping the Randuin's Omen as he pressed his hands against his back, where the arrow landed. The arrow must have pierced through his armor and straight into his flesh, as trails of blood flowed out from the place. At the same time, the seemingly empty air behind William transformed into a figure in less than half a second. The figure held a crossbow, and wore red and blue clothing, with a golden cape. Her eyes were covered by red sunglasses.
Everyone in the room gasped in surprise, including the High General.
"Vayne? Impossible! You were locked up by me last time I've seen you! You couldn't have escaped from that! I am confident it was properly secured—"
"You're mistaken, High General. It wasn't secure at all. I broke out of the place easily."
"It…it will take a miracle to do that." The High General was breathing heavily. "Can't believe I would die to a silver bolt tonight, rather than gloriously slain by Jarvan. You realize you are killing me, don't you?"
"I might spare you, if you tell me who you're working with," Vayne's tone was threatening. She stepped closer to the High General. "You couldn't have orchestrated all of this just by yourself. You were supplied with Hextech, something you can only get outside Demacia."
The High General was silent for a few seconds. Jarvan was about to speak when Vayne gestured him to keep quiet. He obliged.
"I'll tell you, on one condition." William finally replied. He was still motionless.
Suddenly, his right hand reached for the golden sword, which he dropped a while ago. Without hesitation, he hurled the sword at the unsuspecting Twisted fate.
Yet before the sword reached the gypsy, its course was interrupted and it spun in the air before landing onto the ground.
Twisted fate saw the heavy silver bolt on the ground which saved his life. Meanwhile, Vayne readied another bolt on her crossbow.
"Your struggles are pointless, High General."
"Demacia will fall," the High General said. "It is inevitable. Even though we have not achieved success in this revolution, we had already made a large dent in the Demacian military. You have already suffered unmeasurable losses. Days later, Noxus will send their army and invade your nation. And you will fail to stop it."
"There's someone out there, a dark power, who has risen. You may not know him, but you soon will, for he will conquer the whole of Valoran along with Noxus! He's someone all of you should fear."
His eyes locked on to the gypsy's.
"Especially you, Twisted fate. You. You won't get out of this."
Twisted fate could feel chills at his back. He held his gold card tightly.
"And I'm sorry, Vayne. My last words to you people are…get ready to dig your own graves."
Twisted fate saw a knife in the High General's fingers, deliberately hidden from anyone's sight. He smiled devilishly.
"Hail Noxus."
Before Vayne could stop him, he stabbed himself in the face with the knife. He didn't even scream—only the sound of flesh was heard. The knife stood straight on the High General's face.
The High General was dead.
Twisted fate just stared at the body. The man who had nearly succeeded in killing the Card Master was now lying on the floor, having committed suicide. His face condition was disturbing, prompting him to look away.
"Garen, are you all right?"
Jarvan had recovered and was crouching beside the wounded Garen.
Meanwhile, the Night Hunter was standing on the rails of the balcony, her head facing the night sky.
"Vayne! What are you doing?"
"I'll have to clean up the streets. The rebellion army is still down in the city."
"Wait—don't you mind telling me what happened to you these days?"
She looked back at Twisted fate.
"Not now."
"You really escaped out of that place yourself?"
"Yes." She answered without any hesitation. With that, she jumped off.
Twisted fate immediately ran over to the balcony and looked downwards. He could see the moat surrounding the castle—but no sign of the Night Hunter.
"She always has her way to disappear," Jarvan shouted to Twisted fate, while he himself was helping the wounded Garen out. "But for some reason, she never dies from those seemingly suicidal acts."
Twisted fate sighed. He had tons of questions in his mind to ask her.
"Anyway, our job is done here. Let's get the hell out of this place and settle the rebellion once and for all."
Author's note:
10k words! Took two weeks to finish this. I tend to write longer at the last chapter of an act when I want to combine events so that things become more exciting.
So here we are, at the end of the "first act" of the story (there will be a total of three).
Do leave some feedback so as to help me improve on this story (I do not consider myself as an excellent writer). Many thanks!
If you may notice, there is no Institute of War in this universe yet.
The chaotic rebellion in Demacia is stopped at the end (or how will the story continue?). However, it does raise a few questions. What are the next plans of Noxus? How can Noxus be stopped? Who is the mysterious "one" who helped orchestrate the whole rebellion?
And most importantly, who is the killer of Jarvan's father?
Stay tuned.