"His health condition is stable, Prince Jarvan. But he will need to stay in bed for at least a few more days."
A few hours had passed since the devastating rebellion attempt, and it was already morning when Jarvan finished his work, so he arrived at the Royal hospital to check on Garen, who has been sent there for his injuries. The numbers of the wounded were soaring due to the revolution, so the hallway was crowded with doctors and nurses, busy with the sheer amount of work. A strong chemical smell was present in the air.
Now he was chatting with a nurse, who was wearing her usual white uniform.
"Very good. I appreciate your effort, and I'll come back next time. Here's a tip for you."
He showed the coins on his palm to the nurse.
"You're really kind." The nurse smiled cheekily as she collected the coins.
"Do you know where Lux Crownguard is?"
"She's at…the third floor. In the same room with Miss Buvelle, I guess."
"Thanks." Jarvan waved goodbye and headed for the stairs. Then he saw a man lying on a hospital bed. The person was in grave condition—his face was fully burnt, exposing half of his skull and jaw, leaving bits of flesh behind.
"His body wasn't any different." A doctor standing beside the person said sympathetically. "He died a few minutes ago. Can't believe he could live for a few hours like this."
"Do you know what happened to him?" Jarvan was horrified but kept his professional tone.
"He…something like a laser did this to him. His burn marks show that. Probably he met someone who used lasers as weapons."
I don't recall anyone I know who uses lasers as weapons.
Regardless, Jarvan left the scene, eager to see his friends. After a while, he arrived in front of the door of the room. He knocked.
"Prince Jarvan here!"
He waited. Moments later, the door opened.
It was Sona.
"Hey there! Nice to see you again!" Jarvan pulled the woman into a hug. "Glad you made through here safely!"
Well, we were lucky Xin's men found us first before the rebels did after we left your mansion.
"You have Fiora and Quinn on your side. No reason to be worried." He looked across Sona's shoulder and saw Lux lying on a bed. "And Lux! Glad to see you again. Luckily you guys are safe here in the hospital."
Lux gave him a warm smile. Then her face turned grim.
"Er…actually the hospital was attacked by a group of rebels during the rebellion attempt."
Jarvan's eyes bulged.
"What? But—but the hospital is in good condition—"
"A man saved us from them. I didn't see him in person, but the doctors told me he wielded guns which shot white lasers. When the rebels attacked, our soldiers stood no chance. Suddenly, he arrived in the middle of the fight and singlehandedly took down the group of men. After that, he left without a trace before the soldiers had the chance to thank him. I wonder who that guy is."
This person must have caused the burn marks of the poor guy downstairs.
Though Jarvan was relieved that the mysterious person saved the people in the whole building.
"No one recognized him? His facial features?"
"One of the doctors said he was black in skin colour. But that's it."
Never seen anyone black here in Demacia.
"Ok…how is your spine?"
"The doctors said the spine can be fully healed but will take a few weeks to do so. I originally thought my body would be entirely paralysed! Fortunately, we have some excellent doctors here in Demacia."
"I agree." Jarvan smiled back.
So…what exactly happened back in the palace?
"Let me take my seat first."
Jarvan sat on the bed where Lux was lying.
"Garen, Xin Zhao, Twisted fate and me went to confront the High General."
"Wait, Twisted fate? Sona told me he escaped when your mansion was under attack."
"He came back and rescued me from a tight spot. If it wasn't for his efforts I would be dead already."
"How did—"
"When we separated, Sona, I ran into a group of rebels. They were strong, and I couldn't take any of them down. Suddenly Twisted fate appeared behind the men and killed all of them in a blink of an eye. Then he helped me escape and reach our military forces."
"But…how—"
"He did say he wanted something in return, and I guess that's his motivation. He's in my house now. I took him there after we put down the rebellion. The people are bewildered, but I assured them he is on our side, at least for now. I'll tell them more about that during my speech later."
"Oh yeah! You still have your speech today! I forgot that!"
"And I'll probably have to leave soon. It's nearly time. I need to tell you something first though."
The prince gestured the women to lean closer to him. He spoke quietly.
"Demacia is a dangerous place now. We don't know if they still had any spies left. We have to be vigilant. None of us knew they had planned such a scale of a rebellion for years! I can't believe the High General is the big mole among all of this. And worse of all,"
He clenched his fists.
"He had ties with Noxus!"
The two women dropped their jaws.
"No joke. He said that himself. Says Noxus provided them with the necessary resources and manpower—and they themselves are Noxian spies! We have Noxian spies in our army for so long!"
"How…how did they get in—"
"Eight years ago, my father introduced a new policy called the "Conscription policy". We were to recruit as many young men as we could into our military. At that time a substantial number of the men responsible for carrying out the policy must have already been infiltrated, because they recruited a group of Noxian men instead, and they must have helped forge their Demacian documents. And so in our military force, a significant number of people are moles, like a time bomb, ready to explode at any possible second."
"But that's what I can confirm. There are still some unsolved mysteries, and I plan to deal with them tonight. Buy for the next few days, both of you should stay here with Garen. Why don't I ask the doctors to move him here later? He room is downstairs."
"Sure, why not. I'll sleep more soundly if I have my brother at my side."
"Good. I'll leave some of my men in this hospital, just in case. Remember, Demacia is no longer the safe place we used to imagine. And by the way, we found Vayne."
"Really? Is she alright? Or…"
"Relax. She's perfectly fine. And to be more accurate, Vayne found us. She appeared in the throne room when we fought with the High General. And speaking of which, it's a long story. I'll tell you guys what exactly happened up there when I have time. Now I really have to leave, or else I'll be late for my speech. Be safe, Lux. See you, Sona.
Jarvan gave a reassuring smile before he shut the door and left. Lux looked at Sona in the eyes worrisomely.
"Since when did Demacia…become so corrupted?"
The Night Hunter sat on a sofa, reading a book. She had a lot to catch up. A lot of things had happened since she was kidnapped—and captured. The unpleasant memories of torture and pain still remained in her mind.
She swore not to fall into situations like these again. Just then, the doorbell rang.
"I'll open the door for you."
Quinn sped down the stairs from above and headed for the door, prompting Vayne to stay where she was.
On the doorsteps stood Jarvan, Twisted fate, and Xin Zhao. Twisted fate was in his original outfit.
"Hello, Quinn. Ah, and hello Vayne." Jarvan greeted.
He patted Quinn's shoulder.
"Thanks to you, our country is saved again."
"Not just me. All of us were vital to the defeat of the rebels. Even Twisted fate was of great help."
"I still find that hard to believe. But maybe there's some good in a man like him after all."
"Anyway, let us settle ourselves first. I'd like to grab a cup of coffee first."
After the men had grabbed their own food and drinks, they sat around a circular table. Twisted fate could see that they were relaxed and casual, not as serious as he imagined. Except for Vayne, of course. She never smiled, or at least pretended to smile, during the whole time.
It took a while for them to settle down.
"Let's begin," Jarvan said, drinking his cup of coffee. "Yesterday Demacia faced one of the most serious crises in history. Around thousands of rebels, led by High General William, launched an unexpected attack on the whole city yesterday, targeting me specifically. Well, we successfully defeated them, but not without significant property damage and loss of life. Even Garen and her sister Lux are hurt, and currently in the hospital. Now, I've heard from the High General himself that Noxus was behind this, but I need more supportive evidence. We can't guarantee this is the last attack from Noxus. Tell me what you guys got."
"I searched the documents the High General has in possession." Quinn took out a pile of documents from her bag. "They were discovered in the throne room by the soldiers. All of them were encrypted, so I used my Codex to decode it. Here are the copies of the few letters written by the High General, translated by me." She placed them on the table so that everyone could see it.
William,
You have done well in infiltrating Demacia. There are already over a thousand men in their military whom is under our very command. Now, we have planned a new scheme, which can potentially end Demacia once and for all.
I am currently working with a partner on a new invention—the Demon's portal, we call it. As the name suggests, it is a portal which teleports anyone who stands in it to a specific destination.
Now, imagine this—what will happen if we can transport monsters both from the Shadow Isles and the Void dimension, two of the most demonic places ever existed in this world, to this world? Imagine what will happen if we successfully created an army of undead creatures! We will be unstoppable, and there will be no nation we cannot defeat. Once we created the army, we will obliterate every nation standing in Valoran, starting with Demacia, our sworn enemy for more than a century! And once Demacia falls…there will be no one who can stop us! At last, Noxus will be the one and only nation in the whole of Runeterra! We can't accomplish this so far, because of that imbecile "treaty" of all the nations. But it will turn into a scrap of paper once we attacked the nation with the strongest military force, and not even the other nations can help them, helpless as they witness Demacia be in ruins, and watch as their own nation is met with the same fate!
Here's what you need to do if this magnificent plan is to work. At once notify all our men in Demacia of this. Prepare yourselves for a rebellion—to destroy Demacia we have to attack the inside and the outside. That will absolutely cripple them.
And don't worry about the King interfering with your plans—he and his son will be eliminated soon, by us. But that is unrelated to you. Just get ready—once we finished constructing the portal, we will inform you. It will take no longer than two weeks.
There is a map attached to this letter. The location shown on the map is the place where the portal will be accessible.
And keep this letter safe. It is crucial that outsiders cannot have access to this information.
Soon, our protracted wait will end, my friend. Just follow my instructions and we will shape up the perfect Noxian world in no time.
Signed,
The Master Tactician
"Obliterate. I like this word." Jarvan commented.
"It's obvious Swain wrote this," Quinn said. "I knew he is the one to blame for everything that has happened. It's no surprise that the Grand General of Noxus wants Demacia destroyed."
"That's not the worst of the problems. If the portal is built, it will bring chaos to us, the same as what Swain has written here." Vayne said. "The number of monsters in those dimensions is nearly limitless—we will stand no chance against them, no matter how hard we try."
Jarvan slammed the table.
"Then we must stop them. Days ago all of us have seen the strength of those monsters in my mansion. We cannot allow them into our world! Quinn, do you have the map of the place?"
"It's here." Quinn took out another sheet of paper, this time in a yellowish colour. "The place where the portal is built—is in the College of Techmaturagy."
"The College of Techmaturgy. The one standing on the canyon separating North and South Piltover?" Vayne asked.
"Yes."
"It's in Zaun."
"Zaun?" The word triggered a long-buried memory in Twisted fate. It was the very place where the ordinary Tobias Foxtrot transformed into the cunning, infamous Card Master.
"Zaun? I despise that place very much. I only know that people there are uncivilized and wild. There's basically no laws in that place!" Xin Zhao said.
"Zaun is an ally of Noxus. It's logical that they set up their secret weapon there." Jarvan added.
"What should we do?" Xin Zhao didn't like the situation at all.
"If the portal stuff is real, then we must stop it as soon as possible. We must head there and destroy the portal in two weeks!" Jarvan said.
"You're right. But who will be the one doing it?" Xin Zhao asked.
"Of course all of us should go! The more of us, the more likely we're able to succeed!" Quinn remarked.
"Wait! But some of us need to stay! We need someone to look over Demacia, in case anything happens." Jarvan said. "Who knows if they are still Noxian spies in the city?"
The others had failed to realize that.
"Er..….you're right." Xin Zhao answered. "I have my own special forces unit to govern. Without me Demacia will be a lot less safe, I reckon."
"I am Demacia's scout, and I'm pretty important. I guess my mobility is better used here." Quinn said.
"I will go. I'm the best person for the job," declared Vayne.
"And so will I. I'm absolutely sure they are responsible for my father's death, and I have to avenge him!" Jarvan looked determined. "And for you, Twisted fate, since you have nothing to do in Demacia…you will accompany us."
"What?" Twisted fate did not expect this. "But isn't the journey going to be dangerous?"
"It probably will," Jarvan said. "That's why we need more help. Your abilities are unique—it might come in handy during the journey."
"You don't have much of a choice, Twisted fate." Vayne's cold eyes stared into Twisted fate's.
"But…I might die along the way. You said it's dangerous…and its Noxus we're dealing with! They never leave any survivors. Besides, I've already helped you defeat the High General yesterday!"
"If you refuse, Twisted fate, then—" Quinn threatened but was interrupted by Jarvan.
"You did well yesterday, Twisted fate. Let's put it in this way—we need you to help us one more time. Should you accept this mission—"
He deliberately paused for a second as he considered carefully what he was about to say next.
"I will free you from your life sentence, and grant you citizenship of Demacia."
"Wait—citizenship of Demacia? Does that mean—"
"Yes. You will be able to live in Demacia as long as you like, and we will treat you like a proper Demacian. Such as defending you from Piltover."
"That looks like an excellent deal." Twisted fate thought the offer was too good to pass up. After all, he had nothing to lose.
"That is insane, Jarvan. Despite what he had done, don't tell me you're actually going to hand over Demacian citizenship to a fool like him!" Quinn could not accept Jarvan's decision.
"Jarvan, I understand he saved your life, but it's not that we lack good fighters. Why pick him out of all people?" Xin Zhao said.
"I can see that Twisted fate is trying to reform himself, or else he wouldn't have saved me last night. Besides, he can be of great help to us—after all, he is the only mage sitting in this room. I would have chosen Lux, but I think all of you know her condition right now. She can't fight."
"So you're implying that you need a mage to accompany you. I agree with that, but there are so many talented mages in the College of Magic, and I'm sure some of them must be superior to Twisted fate." Quinn still wasn't convinced.
"Twisted fate is much more experienced that you think. Sure, the mages at the College might be more skilled, but they've never been in any life-threatening situations. Meanwhile, Twisted fate had made his way out of extremely dire situations before, which is very likely to be what we will be facing in this journey. He has the best survivability right now." Vayne explained.
And Vayne's words were way more convincing than Jarvan's. Now even Quinn started to think that it wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"Maybe you're right. He does have some remarkable tricks up his sleeve."
"So it's set. Me, Vayne and Twisted fate. Remember, this is a very dangerous mission. We will leave tomorrow before sunrise because I want to start our mission as soon as possible. And speaking of which, keep our mission a secret. The fewer people know about this, the better. It's probably the safest way."
"Very well. I shall follow your orders." Xin Zhao said.
"Everyone agrees with this arrangement, right?"
Everybody in the room nodded.
"Very well. Now let's map out the routes we need to take…"
It was five o'clock in the morning, and the sun hadn't even barely risen. No one would have been awake at this hour, except those working on night shifts.
Yet standing at the docks of the Demacian Seaport were a group of Demacian soldiers, along with Quinn, Xin Zhao, Vayne, Jarvan IV and a certain fatigued, exhausted gypsy. Stationed beside them was a rather large "Cabin cruiser", as Jarvan called it.
"This is a pretty good boat of mine. It's made in Piltover, so expect it to be luxurious and you'll see Hextech all over the place. It even has an automatic Hextech motor, so we will reach Zaun in around four days."
"Good luck, Prince Jarvan. We wish you three all the best." The Demacian soldiers bowed down in front of Jarvan.
"If you found out what they're up to, contact us immediately. We will mobilize the troops as soon as possible." Quinn said.
"That's a no-brainer, Quinn."
"See you when you come back. Bring some good news. And please don't die."
"I'll come back, don't worry,"
As Jarvan was saying his goodbyes, Vayne stood beside him, watching the whole scene. Twisted fate, however, was staring mindlessly at the sea. He yawned over and over again, his eyes struggling to stay open.
Damn. Only got three hours of sleep. I actually wonder how I managed to get here this tired. Perhaps jumping into this water will keep me awake—
Wait! What are you thinking? Why on earth will you jump into the ocean?
Twisted fate then realized he was standing at the very edge, one tiny step away from thin air. He immediately backed a few steps away, unable to believe what he had almost done. He looked around and confirmed no one saw his actions.
"Jarvan, it's time we should leave," Vayne said.
"Oh, yeah. I'd better be going now. See you, my fellow Demacians."
Jarvan gave Quinn a hug.
"You'll be the one responsible for the whole army, Xin, during my leave. Wish you luck."
"Same."
"Well then. Time is running out. Let's go! Hey, Twisted fate, what are you doing there?"
The gypsy stood up straight.
"Oh yeah, sorry. Heh, heh. I'm coming, don't worry."
Quinn gave a puzzling look.
"No seriously, I'm fine. Just a bit sleepy."
The three of them boarded the ship, along with a few of Jarvan's men, who would be helping them on the boat but wouldn't be accompanying them on the journey. It was a while later did they finally leave the port.
Twisted fate looked at the docks and waved. His journey had officially begun.
Author's note:
Now the adventure begins as Twisted fate and his fellow Demacians have to confirm the existence of the Demon's portal.
You should probably understand the meaning of the story's title right now;p