Chapter 21

Vel'Koz hovered down the hallway, enjoying a temporary respite from his typical disintegration studies to observe the Summoner population in action. Sadly, observation bias was still a major factor, as many Purple Clocks almost seemed to avoid him and often their communications petered to a halt whenever he passed over them. He didn't mind the lack of reliable data so much now that the information regarding Piltover had reached him, though. As he drifted towards the entrance, he spied a peculiar specimen that had interested him for quite some time.

The Void-Walker was a gem, no doubt, and could possibly prove more valuable than Zilean's temporal magic. A specimen to be contorted and augmented by the Void's powers but at the same time unaffected by the ̴̫̳͕̬̬͜ς̨̛̖͔͚͓͝ͅ∂͘҉̭̻̘͔ㄅ҉̵̢̳̭̺̬͙̣͕͚∆̰̘∑̡̤̹̤̘͎̬̦͜? Inconcievable.

Vel'Koz could only imagine what lay beneath the chitinous plating, tissues, and subatomic structures. If it were not for the elusive Chronoshifter and Cho'Gath's compelling argument, he would dissect him on the spot. For now, all he could do was observe and record.

The most notable feature of the specimen known as Kassadin was his positive body language, something that was highly unusual, considering his history. His posture was tall, his head moving and obviously alert, his hands moving with his stride. Vel'Koz was perplexed and amused by this effect that emotions and moods had on humanoids. Apparently Kassadin was so positive that he didn't even register his presence.

"Kassadin!"

One of Vel'Koz's auxiliary eyes shriveled to assess the sudden noise pollution. A fair-haired young male was fighting his way through the crowd. The measurements and vocals matched the Champion known as Ezreal. Another peculiar case, possessing a magical gauntlet of sorts, which had a strange effect on space-time. The body language of this male champion was much worse than Vel'Koz anticipated from previous examinations. Vel'Koz noticed him glance up straight at him, his eyes visibly in distress. Something had, as Runeterrans often said, "Gotten under his skin."

As a Piltoverian, it was not hard to deduce what had affected Ezreal so. Vel'Koz focused intently on the situation at hand. It would be interesting to see how humans dealt with crises.

Ezreal quickly closed the distance, grabbing Kassadin by the shoulder and steering him towards the exit. The Void-Walker took the sudden interference gracefully, but he was visibly confused.

"Ezreal? What's wrong?"

"We gotta go to Piltover right now. Vi's in some serious trouble."

"Vi? What's wrong?"

"I.S., I swear she's got it."

Vel'Koz could almost see Kassadin's heart rate skyrocket, but instead the Void-Walker just halted in his tracks and stared at Ezreal in visible disbelief.

"No."

The moment they exited the Institute's grand shields and wards, Kassadin and Ezreal immediately blinked to Piltover's Medical establishment. As they rushed through the hospital, Ezreal told his story.

"I was at the instittue, watching Lux on the big screen, you know? I go over to check the Piltover quarters and Flavin's there throwing a fit, telling me Caitlyn and Jayce and Heimerdinger suddenly left for the teleportation quarters. He told me Vi was sick, and when I went and learned about the symptoms..."

Kassadin walked through the hallway, desperately skeptical. "We shouldn't rush to conclusions. There is still hope... How is she?"

"I have no idea."

Soon they arrived into the Emergency Care section, finding a distraught Caitlyn and a sickly-looking Jayce.

"Kassadin! Ezreal!" Caitlyn exclaimed, "Thank goodnesss you're here! Vi's got it bad..." Her voice petered off nervously.

"What's the story." Kassadin asked. Caitlyn turned to Jayce, who sighed and recited his story.

"Apparently Vi didn't show up to work, so I decided to pop in, you know... She didn't respond or nothing, that was warning enough. Found her in the bedroom, bleeding out... completely out."

"The worst is past." Caitlyn responded cooly, laying her hand on Jayce, "If you didn't get to her, she might have not made it."

Kassadin shook his head, worried.

"Something wrong?" Jayce questioned.

"Its just... Its not good. Ezreal and I think she has Icathian Syndrome."

"Icathian... What is that again?" Caitlyn said, confused.

"The Sand Sickness, Desert Madness... Different names, all with the same feature. People committing suicide, conscious in different acts of mania, unconscious by... scratching into themselves."

"Wait, wait..." Jayce interrupted, not convinced. "I was told it was a myth."

"Not to me, and not to Vi." Kassadin mused, slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "It must... it must have been the blades! Those attackers on the patrol must have done it... Poisoned, no doubt."

Grim determination griped him. "I need to talk to her. Let me handle this. Its better to be safe than sorry."

Caitlyn looked at him for just a moment.

"Fine."

Kassadin walked up to the nearest doctor he could find. Unfortunately, the man was hurried and gave Kassadin little help.

"I need you to take Vi into Quarantine and strap her down."

"What? Are you mad? Who gave you authorization for that sort of request. Besides, you're not even a doct-"

Then the doctor spied Caitlyn's trigger finger twitch ever so slightly.

"Al...Alright. In a minute."

Kassadin shook his head and began to move down the hallway towards Vi's room once more, only to be blocked by...

"Clovois?"

"Oh, hello, Kassadin." The cloaked summoner responded,

"Could be better. Why are you..."

"Checking up on our champion pool. It seems we shall be pushing our match schedule back a week due to a champion's ailment. If she's not able then, the matches will resume without her."

"I see..."

"Take care, Void-Walker. Hope all is well..." Clovois replied distantly as he vanished past him. How strange these summoners are... He knew about this before I did...

Vi was awake, seemingly unaware of the tension Kassadin brought into the room. Her irises shown fiercely behind the dull pallor that seemed to hang around her. Her skin was dull, and her whole right flank was wrapped in bandages. She gave him a knowing smile as she recognized him.

"Vi, I-" Kassadin begun, still searching for words. "How did this happen? Was your right side bothering you before this happened."

"A bit... I didn't expect this to happen, but it was irritating."

"When I asked you if you were cut, back then when we were attacked... Did you lie?"

Vi winced ever so slightly. "I didn't notice it. Good thing that the worst has past though, right?"

Kassadin frowned, suddenly feeling gut swell with unease. The fierceness in her eyes was a bit too... sharp.

"Are you kidding me? How deep did you go without waking up?"

"Kass... relax. I'm fine!" Vi responded airily, aloof. "The doctors did the whole nine yards. I'm spotless there no-"

"How deep." Kassadin replied, more forcefully, irritated by how calm Vi appeared. "Don't laugh it off, this isn't normal."

Vi frowned, hurt. "I gotta help Piltover. Catch Jinx. Keep order and all."

Kassadin wouldn't listen, suddenly realizing that she would never tell. He was already looking at the medical report at the foot of Vi's bead. This was madness. Vi was certainly not fit for duty, especially after...

"Okay I was at the lung, okay? Doctors said it'd be fine." Vi muttered, defeated.

"Fine? Fine? Are you kidding me?" Kassadin stammered. "Caitlyn would be crazy if-"

"She doesn't know." Vi shot back angrily, "I said, I'm not in danger, okay? They healed all of the damage."

"They never said you were good to go."

"Bet they will."

"You're sick, Vi. This isn't-"

"I'm fine."

Vi glowered at him, daring him to continue. The conversation was over.

End