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A/N
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Chapter 26
Naruto, Ahri, Jax, and Kohaku walked out of the hospital and towards the main gate. All packs were sealed within one of his scrolls. All weapons were brought out. Naruto was armed to the teeth with kunai, shuriken, Fuuma Shurikens, and explosive tags. Jax was armed with his lamppost, claiming that using a real weapon wouldn't be fair. Ahri had no weapons, but her magic was brought to bear and her eyes shined with a dark lust as she began thinking of a way to crush all that would stand in their way.
"So what's the plan?" Jax asked Naruto. The blond remained quiet until they got out of the village and into the shadows. "Same thing as last time?"
"Yes," Naruto answered. He brought his hands together and in a flash a hundred clones appeared. "Find the army," he commanded. They bolted in different directions. "Kohaku, you can trace them, can't you?"
"I sense the power of the Sun in the same area, but yes, I can sense the one we're here for."
Naruto's head jerked to the left. "Good… We'll buy you some time to reach her and get her out of here. The army is getting close to them and they're probably fighting somewhere. Go get the girl and we'll meet up with you once we've handled them. Just get here as far away from here as possible." Kohaku departed with a nod and slipped into his shadow to speed the process up. "Jax, you and I are taking the fight to them. No killing. Ahri, if anyone gets passed us, you turn them back or put them in the ground. Not six feet under. Got it?" She gave a mock salute. Taking a deep breath, Naruto gathered himself and smiled. "Let's go show these warriors of war how real warriors fight."
(-)
The sound of steel on steel rang out through the air. Each blow sounded like lightning striking the earth and thunder roaring after. With each second that passed, Diana could feel his strength beginning to falter. The moon did its best to shield her from the attacks of Leona and Pantheon, but they could do only so much. Taking on two of them was near suicide, but the strength of the moon and a need for revenge pushed her upwards and forwards past her breaking point. She slashed and kicked and punched and rolled and jumped and ran as she tried to find an opening in the two fighters' attacking pattern.
Leona and Pantheon worked as one. With Leona couldn't block, Pantheon jumped in the way, shield in hand, to block the attack for her. When Pantheon fell in speed, Leona rushed in and swung for him. Diana was at her breaking point. Leona could feel it. Diana only had so much strength left before it was over. If they didn't deal with her before the rest of the soldiers arrived to ensure her death, it would bring shame to them. Leona wasn't about to fail her Elders. They placed too much faith in her. She had to make this work. And if killing Diana was the only way, then so be it. The Sun's rays may warm the day and push back the dark, but it was also an unforgiving God of destruction when riled.
Pantheon jumped at Diana. She rolled out of the way, brought her weapon up to block his next strike, and countered with her own. Her sword barely tasted flesh as Pantheon's shield sprang up to block the most of the force behind the blow. Her sword grazed his shoulder. Leona jumped in as the blood slid down his arm and kicked Diana away. The white haired fighter fell on her back. Leona and Pantheon moved quick and pinned her to the ground. Leona stabbed her sword through Diana's leg. Pantheon stabbed his spear through her stomach. Diana screamed and kicked Pantheon in the balls. He fell to the side. Leona removed her sword and raised it above her head for the killing blow.
Diana screamed in pain and opened her eyes for the end. Leona brought her sword down. Pain erupted through Leona and her world went black. Pantheon screamed something she couldn't hear over the low humming noise. When the darkness faded a strange light hovered in the air over them.
Leona looked down at her feet and saw bones and armor and weapons. She jumped back in fear and stepped on something soft. She spun with her weapons in hand, but found her weapons gone and a man standing before her with a jewel in his forehead. Diana was on his back wrapped in blackness. She was alive but fading.
"I will not allow you to make wrong on your sister Order. Not again."
"Who are you?"
He was silent for a moment. He started walking and stopped only when he realized she wasn't following. "Who I am is not important. What is important is that I prevent you from making the same mistake your ancestors made all those years ago." Leona looked for her weapons as Pantheon stormed up with a scowl in his eyes. "This is a sacred place. There will be no fighting on this ground."
"I'll ask you again… Who are you?"
Stopping, he looked at the two of them as he carried Diana on his back. "My name is Kohaku, the Weaver. I am the one your people sided with to destroy you sister Order, the Order of the Moon. I've come to stop you from destroying what little hope they have of returning." His eyes hardened and for a moment Leona thought she saw uncertainty in his eyes. "Now follow. I must show you the graves of your sisters and brothers. What I show you must be understood."
Pantheon glared at the man and looked for a weapon. Diana blinked slowly as she began to stir from her fatigued and battle worn state. "…Why did you save me?" she asked, her voice horsed.
Turning away from the two Sun worshiping warriors, he closed his eyes and said," Because you are my greatest sin. You were the greatest warriors this world ever knew and I helped bring you to your knees before they brought you down. Now I'm going to make you rise so that the world doesn't lose its moon."
(-)
There was an explosion that alerted them to an attack. A few bodies flew through the air as flames spread through the trees. Lightning began to strike as the rain began to fall. The soldiers turned sharply and saw the creator of the blast. Naruto stood with his hands in his pockets. Screams erupted from another spot. A man in rags appeared beating soldiers left and right with a lamppost. Men turned and started walking away from the battle with odd expressions on their faces as they marched towards the trees. A woman with nine white tails walked out of the shadows.
A scouting party of a dozen was brought down in seconds by the three. Once they tied them up and put them away, Ahri shook her head. "I thought there'd be more of them."
"That was just their scouting party," Jax told her. Ahri seemed unbelieving. Most scouting parties in Ionia were three to four people. Not a squad of maybe a dozen. That was too noisy of a team and too easy to spot. It was a lot like hunting when she was still a fox. She traveled with maybe one more to go on successful hunts for bigger prey. Jax cleaned the blood off his weapon and put it on his shoulder. "The real fighters should be showing up soon. Chances are they're going to move against us any moment now."
"They're already here," Naruto informed them. His hands in his pockets, he took two steps forward and smiled. "Is this the best you can do?" He called out, screaming like a madman to no one. Ahri sniffed the air, but only came back with rain water. Jax looked into the darkness and saw nothing. Naruto pulled his hands from his pockets. "If you're going to play hide and seek with us," he disappeared from view and appeared somewhere else that Ahri and Jax could not see, "then I'd suggest you hide better." The two duo spun to the sound of his voice. Jax charged with his weapon dragging along the ground once he caught sight of a tiny flicker. Ahri gave chase as well.
Naruto stood with his hands on the throat of his enemy when the two arrived. Before them was an army of two hundred strong. Fear washed over Ahri's face. Jax readied his weapon with a snicker. Naruto tossed the man to the ground and summoned two wooden training swords. Laughter erupted from the opposing Rakkor forces.
"How much time you think we need to buy him?" Jax asked in a low whispered. The men charged.
Naruto turned back to his friends and smiled. "Until he returns. Let's hope that gives us enough time to put them down. Stick to the plan and we all go home."
(-)
"Where are we?"
"A grave."
"Why did you bring us to a grave?"
"To show you the truth."
"What truth?"
"The truth."
Leona and Pantheon had given up trying to get an answer from Kohaku. Stripped of their weapons and a beating like nothing Pantheon hadn't expected from the mysterious figure, they were left with only one option: follow him. Pantheon still nursed the broken arm he received from trying to punch the odd man. Shadows had sprung up from the ground and assaulted him. He recognized the speed and might of one, his own shadow, and though he lost, he felt relieved that his only true defeat came at the hands of his own shadow. Not many people could fight themselves without destroying it in an instant but Pantheon believed that the shadow was stronger, and rightly so.
Diana slipped between the dream world and the real world as he carried her on his back. Her wounds had been tended to and she would survive, but the fighting had already taken its toll on her. When she was awake she stared in wonder at the back of his head and wondered if his words were the truth. He spoke of ruin and sisters like they were the same thing. He looked to her with sympathy and regret. Perhaps there was some truth to his endless riddles and demands of silence. The buildings they passed in the odd place were taller than they were and built from stone and mud. Rain poured through an opening that was somewhere behind the witch light that he made to illuminate the area.
The dead lay all around them. Weapons and armor were broken. Bodies were mangled. The earth was a deep red and where plants too stubborn to die grew with metallic colors. Buildings were blackened by flames, some outlining bodies. It was a scene of perfect destruction to Pantheon. The art of war was in killing. And the killing here had been good. Many people were dead, though they mostly appeared to be civilians. Of all the odd things to see were the inhuman remains of creatures most foul. Some sported wings. Others sports claws. There were some that had been so stubborn that not even time had allowed them to fully rot away, leaving behind a wide array of colored creatures.
Kohaku came to a stop at the very heart of destruction. Bodies were stacked high and their bones blackened by fire. He knelt down to one knee and bowed his head. Thousands of bodies lay on the heap. Leona reached out for one, but a white hand made of light stopped her. "Don't touch them," Kohaku whispered. "Let the dead rest." He rose to his feet and the light creature vanished. Leona flexed her hand and followed as he departed. "This is not what I wanted to show you. I came here to pay respects to someone who died. I figured their body would be in the pile."
"They should be properly buried!" Leona reasoned. Kohaku shook his head. "Why not? You want them to rest, yes? Then let us bury them."
"These are not your dead. These are Diana's dead. The people who once worshiped the moon lay in that pile. Slaughtered by your people." Diana and Leona exchanged glances. Pantheon blinked as he thought about that. Kohaku kept walking. Leona and Pantheon followed, looking over the dead and wondered what could have caused it all to happen. It was a few minutes later that he came to a stop and spoke. "This is where it began. The slaughter that would lead to the destruction of the Order of the Moon… and create my greatest sin."
They stood on the edge of a blackened battlefield. Heat washed over them. Kohaku sat Diana down and raised a hand. Flames arose from the burnt ground and took flight. The heat vanished. Picking her up again, he marched forward. Something in golden lay propped against a home. The earth was ripped apart. Some places it was split and other it was gauged out like someone had shot something through it. In front of the large armored figure the earth had been carved into and its form glassed. A hole was punched through the building.
Leona kept walking long after Kohaku stopped. She got close to the armored figure and saw her symbol on its chest. "Who is…"
"This is Shinji, the Sun Raiser… or better known as Shinji, the Sun's Wrath." Kohaku looked to the giant of a man and saw her still in his arms.
He was dressed in red and gold armor that left not a single piece of his skin visible. He was twice as tall as Pantheon and bigger. From his right collar down to his hip he was split open. The armor hung loosely. A single touch would cause it to fall over. In the center of his chest, just above the crest for the sun was a large hole. Leona examined it and then took notice of another figure. It was in its arms. It was a small person, probably no bigger than herself or Diana, and wore armor of blue and white. A broken bow was clasped in one bone hand and in the other was a broken arrow.
"Her name was Savona, the Veil Piercer," Kohaku informed them. Diana looked at Kohaku with blinking eyes. He knew of her? "They were lovers and they came from different Orders. They intended to get married and move to the Twilight Order. But I attacked and killed them eventually."
"But there was never a group that worshiped the moon!" Leona argued.
"There is! I'm proof!" Diana screamed. Kohaku sat her down and patted her head. Diana's breathing faltered as Kohaku smiled at her. "I'm… proof that they existed… aren't I?"
"You are. And so am i. I was there that day that they died. I can show it to you if you want. If it will make you believe I will show you how they died and how they fought together to try and stop me." He looked at Leona and Pantheon. "I do not expect you to believe me. I do not expect you to understand what I say or show you. But I expect you to listen. What you do from there is up to you."
Pantheon put his hand against Shinji's armor and pulled it back quickly. His hand was burned badly. How had nothing else burned away when his hand burned so easily against the armor?
"Show me," Leona asked in a whisper. Pantheon looked to his friend and saw the tears forming in her eyes. "Show me who they fought… how they lived and died. Show me the proof that they were who you say they are."
Kohaku nodded and brought his hands together. An orb of blinding light formed between his hands and suddenly it exploded, blinding all three.
(-)
"I've come back to see you again. You're plant hasn't burned away yet. I know you're concentrating right now, so I won't stay long."
Udyr sat down in front of his friend and felt tears form in his eyes at seeing his burning form. This was all wrong. But it was his way. This was what he wanted. In a world of bloodlust and killing, this was the most peaceful way to end a war with someone suffering. It spoke in ways that no other man or woman or child could.
Lee Sin's eyes were dried up. His haired had burned away. His mind was strong and his body was tough, but his clothing was not. Parts of his body were already showing the signs of burns. Though small, it was proof that he was nothing more than just a man.
Udyr sat down a cup of wine and poured two glasses full. He knew that his friend would not take it. He would sit and suffer in the burning heat that was his own form of punishment. To him, he was still a sinner that murdered an entire village. Though all the charges were lifted, his heart still ached and that was why he came to Ionia to sit and train and atone for his sins.
"You asked me once before if sins are ever forgiven. I never answered you. Truth is… I never tried. I never tried to repent for my sins because I never felt the need to. Perhaps it's my spirits that stop me from seeing the true nature of atonement. Perhaps it's my own nature to not seek it. Or perhaps it's because I just don't care enough to not try and atone for those sins. But you… Lee Sin… you… you try so hard to atone for something you didn't mean to do."
Udyr felt the calmness of his animal spirits and their yearning for the pain to end to his suffering. Part of them wanted him to kill him to end his suffering. Another part of them wanted him to go and destroy the enemy that caused his suffering. What little humanity that remained within him ignored them and focused more on trying to understand the situation and see it from his perspective.
"Lee Sin, please, end this. You are my friend and mentor. Without you… I don't know what will become of me. I don't want to go back to that life of hatred and destruction."
"Have faith in his choice, Udyr." Soraka sat down beside him and looked to the burning monk. "I do not speak for Ionia now. I speak as his friend to you." Udyr turned away from her and kept his gaze on his friend. "Udyr, Ionia will need your strength again. I'm sure that Lee Sin would want you to help us. I do not ask or demand. I only say this now because you have helped us before and I wish you would do so again."
"How can I help you when all I feel is rage?"
Putting her hand on his, she smiled softly to the man. He looked at her finally. "Udyr, you were answering his question. I remember that day how he asked you about it. I believe that sins can be forgiven. I believe that all sins can be forgiven. But you should never force them. Time has a way of forgiving everyone and everything. I know you've hurt people. I know you came here to seek control over the spirits that raged inside you. Perhaps what you sought was not a lesson in control, but a friend. Lee Sin has been the greatest person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."
"You speak as though he will die."
"You speak as though he will?" Udyr tried to understand her words. "Lee Sin will not die. No matter how tough the hearts of Noxus are or the hard the will of the Council of Equity, I believe that the world will right this wrong. I believe that their hearts will break and that the Stars will give us their aid to make things right."
"You're belief is a wrong. The Stars do not hear you, Star Child. The Spirits within me call for blood. It drives me mad."
"It drives you mad because you do not hear what they have to say. Perhaps if you were to open your ears and listen to them, you would hear something more than screams for blood." Pulling her hand back, she tapped her staff on the ground and smiled at the burning form Lee Sin. "Have faith, Udyr. It is not Lee Sin's time to die. He is strong. He will endure."
Soraka left with her eyes closed. Udyr looked to his burning friend and could see only suffering in his form. He sighed and left, departing for the Noxus lines. He would shatter them for this.
(-)
Naruto jumped over the first Spartan to kick the next one in the face. With his foot planted firmly on his enemy's face, he twisted and punched the one he jumped over, knocking them both down in the process as he flipped backwards and kicked a third one in the top of the head, denting his helmet and downing him in a flash. Taking two steps back, he sprang backwards and twisted in the air, kicking his legs out and knocking two more away with blinding speed. He flipped through the air, landed on his feet, and elbowed the next in the gut. With the speed of swiftness that no Spartan could follow he downed two more and sent a third stumbling back with a single quick shot to his chest that left his breastplate dented.
Three hundred had marched them. Of the three hundred Naruto had downed thirty-eight already and the number was still growing. Each warrior that got within in his reach was knocked down in a flash.
Jax worked his magic with his weapon of choice and proved to be near equal to the blond in terms of combat skills. He ducked, weaved, and smashed limbs with the lamppost. He moved like water through each attack. What he could not evade he blocked and countered, delivering a blow three times as hard to anyone who forced his hand. Jax deflected a hard blow and countered by sticking his weapon between the mans' legs and pulling it back to knock them on the ground. He kept moving and stepped on his head as he repeated the same motion to the next Spartan. Instead of letting him fall he reached out and grabbed his ankle. With a yell he tossed him into his friend and let the two groan in pain as he cracked the second one over the head and bounced his head off his friends', resulting in a quick knockout.
Ahri zipped through the soldiers with her magic ablaze. She set them on fire, charmed them into attacking their own allies, and rendered them unconscious under the fury of her own physical strength. While not as strong as Jax or Naruto, her might was without question, sending most men reeling until they wised up and realized that she was, for a woman, very strong. Those that opened challenged her in physical combat had the advantage in skill and strength for the most part. But her strength wasn't needed. She used their strength and their speed against them by countering everything they threw at her. She jumped on their head, tossed them around and blasted anyone that dared to get past her. In seconds she had ten followers happily fighting their fellow man for her. She only lost them when they were rendered unconscious.
Naruto tossed one man through the air and teleported up to kick him back down to the earth. As he landed he flipped and rolled backwards where Jax was waiting with a fist flying. The poor soul that received the blow had his armor dented. Jax ducked as two more came in for a swung with their mace and sword. Naruto and Ahri jumped over him and kicked them both in the face, knocking them down. As more rushed towards them Jax slide between them and twirled his weapon. Naruto tossed an explosive note at the ground between the fighters. The explosion pushed them back and covered them in flames. As the smoke and dust cleared Ahri summoned her magical might and sent hundreds of tiny blue fireballs hurtling through the air. They detonated in the stomachs of everyone.
There was a crack and they both caught sight of Jax's weapons breaking to the force of his strength. He was not detoured. A Spartan brought his weapon down on him. Jax brought both hands up in a cross formation and stopped the weapon by catching his wrist. He fell to one knee then sprang back up to head butt the man in the face. His weapon fell to the ground. Jax grabbed it and flipped the blade over. He cracked him against the head, dropping him. The blade became a blur of motion as the flat side of the blade was used as nothing more than whipping stick against the soldiers.
Naruto grabbed the closest person he could and hurled him at Ahri. She ducked, grabbed his collar, and sent him face first into the ground. As she rose she felt something sharp drag across her back. She stumbled forward and fell into the mud. She screamed and rose up with her orb in hand. She hurled it forward with anger in her heart. It passed through her attacker and when it came back he lurched forward and fell to the ground with a whimper. Jax was in a similar predicament too. He fought against the Spartans with every weapon sturdy enough to handle his strength. He smashed them against shields, broke them against their armor, and splintered them over their heads. But his strength was beginning to falter. His movement became sluggish. He took two hits and then suddenly they pounced on him with weapons ready to end his life.
A body flew through the air and impacted against the men, driving them off the masked fighter for hire. Naruto appeared at his side and lifted him up. "We've been at this for over an hour now," Jax complained. "I ain't gotta anything left, kid." Going into a coughing fit, he coughed out, "Better go to the other plan."
Naruto's eyes turned hard and suddenly Jax felt very afraid. Naruto summoned a clone and pulled his two friends to safety. As the soldiers got closer Naruto took off his coat and showed everyone the explosive tags. The soldiers came to a halt. Ahri and Jax waited a few hundred feet away with their eyes glued to their friend.
"If any of you move an inch, I'll detonate all of them. No one will escape this." An empty threat, but a believable one. The Spartans looked to each other and then to their fellow soldiers. "Since I've got your attention now, I'd like to ask you all a question. Who is Diana?" Instead of focusing on the blond, all eyes turned to the sky. Naruto blinked and suddenly it hit him what was happening. Shit…
(-)
Pulled out of the memories that they had watched, Diana dropped to her knees and felt the full fury of the moon come down on her. Leona glared at Kohaku as he stood looking over the armored form of Shinji. It was almost too much to believe. How many years had they been lied too? Why had feared gripped them so? And if this was all true, why would anyone live in fear of such people? Shinji, for all of his strength, for all of his devotion to the Sun, was struck down by a possessed boy that wanted only freedom. Savona, a woman in her prime, who bore the title Veil Piercer, did not see her own death at the hands of the creature that was once Kohaku.
And this Dreamer… this mastermind behind it all, what did he hope to gain by taking them out?
"I've shown you what asked," Kohaku said in a whisper. "Tell me: Did the Order of the Moon ever exist?"
Leona clenched her hands and wanted to punch him. No matter what he said, it all came back to him. He was the root of it all. Perhaps he was the reason that Diana ended up this way. If she had remained on the right path, she too, could have ended up as a true warrior of the Sun. Perhaps not as great as their ancestors, but enough so that Mt. Targon would be in better hands than it was now. Perhaps he called to the Moon as that creature and bestowed upon her the power of their Order. Perhaps he or this Dreamer caused her to falter and lose faith in a truly gracious God.
"Yes," she snapped finally. "Yes, they existed. I believe you. But what I can't believe is that someone like you could have been that thing."
"That was a different time. A different me."
"Are you still that powerful?" Pantheon asked. He wanted a fight. He wanted a rematch. A blur of motion and one punch was not enough satisfy him in a fight.
Kohaku shook his head. "No. That was the Dreamer in control of me while I slept. He was at his strongest at that point. There was no beating him back then."
"But they wounded you!" Leona argued. Despite his power they very nearly killed him. Shinji, Savona, Maria, and Saito were more than enough to contend with him and even still they were beaten. Their fight had scared the land. Shinji's armor still burned with the power of the Sun, a testament to either his faith or his power. Despite the aging of Savona's mystical arrows, a simple touch was enough to draw blood. So how could he, in all of his might, stand here now, alive and well after taking shots that put holes in his chest, removed his wings, ripped open his chest and tore off his tail? How powerful was this man? How powerful was this so called Dreamer? "Answer me this: How are you alive?"
Kohaku looked to Diana. Her hands were stands in the dirt and chipped glassed earth. Her fingers bled. Tears of anger filled her eyes. "Maria, the Awoken One, saved me. She woke me early and limited the Dreamer's power. This allowed the Order of the Moon and the Order of the Sun to destroy my dark army. While he woke me she restored my body. In the end, it killed her."
"Why go that far for you?!" Diana screamed. Her eyes were full of rage. Kohaku knelt down to her. She took a swing at him. Her fist smashed against his face. His head snapped to the left. He didn't look at her. "Why weren't you stronger? Why couldn't you fight this so called Dreamer? My people are dead because of all of you!"
"The Moon is not worth worshiping!" Leona shouted at her. She hauled Diana to her feet and glared at her. "Perhaps if your people were stronger, they wouldn't have died off so easily!"
"Leona…" Pantheon warned.
"Shut up, Pantheon! She needs to hear this!" She glared at Kohaku. "And you! You'll pay for your crimes against our people!"
"I'm not accepting any punishment from you, Little Light." He looked at Diana pulled her from Leona's grasp. Diana wailed on him with all her strength. "I will accept my punishment at the hands of Diana alone. I brought you here to understand something that I thought you were smart enough to understand. Perhaps you can't because of your rage." Diana's strength failed her and she broke down into tears of sadness. "It wasn't fair… what happened to me. While I was awake I could see the world and see how happy people were until I ended that happiness. Because of the Dreamer he made me hate this world and all people. In some ways, he made me more than just a vessel for his power. He made me a perfect clone of himself."
"Who is this Dreamer?" Pantheon asked. He put a calming hand on Leona's shoulder. "I think it is clear to me that this Dreamer has manipulated not only you, but perhaps even us. So I ask you: who is the Dreamer?"
"He was once a man who made swords for a living. He had no talent for swordsmanship. When his masterpiece became alive with dark powers granted from the bones and blood and flesh of his demons, he was hunted for it. He knew its dark power was unstable and thus, tried to destroy it. But in time he grew found of it and when people caught up to take and destroy the blade, he reached out and the sword responded. That was when the cycle began. He put his soul into the blade, making it a truly dark thing. Nothing can hold the sword without becoming a slave to his will."
"How did you amass an army that big?"
"I didn't. They were fallen people and animals and demons, felled by the blade. Whatever it kills it takes and remakes them. He has done it before on someone I loved. Perhaps that was the first rite of passage for those that wield the blade. To fall to despair you kill the closest person to you. For me, that was my sister. I slew her and created her again in the form of my shadow." The three looked to his shadow. "But now that I'm free of his power, I don't know what became of her."
"Even then, why did you come here? Why did you attack us?" Diana screamed. "Why did the Dreamer turn his gaze to us?"
"He feared you. It's that simple. Without the Order of Eternity to stand guard to the world, you became its new guardians. You stayed away from all fighting and only attacked those that attacked you first. You were both powerful. The Order of the Sun was the shield, and you, the Order of the Moon, the blade. Together you were more powerful than even the Order of Eternity. My Order…"
"So we could have stopped him? How come we couldn't stop you?" Leona asked.
Kohaku opened his mouth and then shut it. That's right… Why couldn't you stop me? Did I miss something?
"I will never die, Weaver. I will never die!"
"Your flames will dwindle and burn out. You're fire is nothing but a flick in the night."
Kohaku blinked and suddenly something else didn't add up. I killed you before Maria learned my name. So how did you know it? Fear filled his face. What became of the Sun Stone that was the power of Shinji's might? Kohaku remembered tearing it from him but not what happened after. That image was gone. Even in the memory he showed them he ripped it out and then it just vanished. Savona was powerful and her gift of piercing the veil of the future was what made her strong as well. So how could she have not seen their deaths? Did she accept them willingly?
"I don't have answer for that," he finally admitted. "But by all rights I should be dead. Shinji could summon the power of the Sun above him and create a false Sun to burn away all of his enemies. And even then, his power, while terrifying, was also not his own. His true power, this form you see now, should not be here. This form, as you saw, had wings of gold feathers and a long tail of scales like a dragon. By the power of the Sun he could merge with the mightiest of the animals to give praise to the Sun, a Phoenix, born from the Sun itself. He was incapable of true death… yet… here he lays, dead." Kohaku released Diana and moved towards the corpse. "You should not be dead. Removing your Sun Stone would not kill you nor would it stop you from returning. So how did I kill you?"
The sudden shift in Kohaku's all-knowing state brought out confusion from the three. Leona suddenly began to doubt the memories she was shown, but here they were before her, sitting, like some monument to evil itself. Despite watching the memory and holding the image of Shinji in her mind, she couldn't fathom someone that could merge themselves with the power of such a creature. There were no Phoenixes anymore. The only one left was the Cryo-Phoenix.
Kohaku suddenly looked away from the corpses. "I will take us to the surface. From there, you decide what my fate will be, Diana. If you wish to kill me, I gladly give you my head. And you, Leona, please spare her. Let her live and leave her peace. That's all I ask."
Their weapons returned from the shadows. It was surprising that no one leapt to the other to slay them. Kohaku summoned his shadows and pulled to them to surface where the storm was raging on. He glanced back to the village and took a step in its direction. "Diana, will you kill me?" he asked her, his eyes closed. Naruto is fighting on my behalf. I'm sorry, my friend, but this is where I must leave you. Thank you… for everything. When he didn't not feel his life end he looked over his shoulder and saw Diana with her weapon on her back. "What?"
"I'm not going to kill you," she said in a quiet voice. Leona and Pantheon looked at her as though she had grown a second head. "You may have started the war, but you did not end my peoples' life. No matter how you say you, you are responsible for their destruction. Those who worship the Sun were the ones to end my peoples' life. And therefor, my rage will not be directed at you."
Kohaku's shoulders slumped. He had expected death for his crimes. To be robbed of such a thing was too cruel for him. It was wrong for his people to kill themselves. Suicide was a coward's way out. Accepting death was not.
"Instead of dying by my hand, I'll ask that you show me more of my people's power. You remember their strength. I want you to show it to me."
Clenching his jaw and suddenly smiling, he nodded. "I can do that." He looked back to the village and looked through the shadows and saw that the fighting had come to a stop. Naruto was going to blow himself up to stop them from hurting his friends. "We must go to your people. They're fighting my friend, Naruto and his two companions."
"Naruto is here?" Leona screamed. Pantheon jumped high into the air and vanished. Kohaku blinked at the man as he disappeared into the sky. "Why is he here?" she asked.
"He was ordered by the Death Game to find the energy that erupted from this location. I accompanied him because I have no one else to turn to. I do not know why the fox girl and the masked man came, but I figure they have their reasons."
Fox girl… Masked man… Ahri and Jax?! Leona feared for her fellow soldiers. How were they fairing against such might… for the second time? Jax beat down a hundred of their finest warriors the last time he came through these parts with Naruto. Though the battle had been a complete misunderstanding, their might alone put the Rakkor into a state of panic. A lot of Spartans pushed themselves to the breaking point to try and match them in strength. To be beaten by two people was not so strange. But to have a squad of a nearly two hundred beaten by two was more than what anyone could handle. Who could fathom such power inside one person?
"Take me there now!"
"Done." Kohaku snapped his fingers and shadows consumed them.
(-)
Naruto stopped the activation of the bombs and dove for cover. Pantheon slammed down like a meteor. When the dust settled, the crown artisan of war jumped out, slamming his shield into Naruto's face. Naruto groaned as he hit the ground, but his fury arose and suddenly he was on top of the man chocking the life out of him. Pantheon spun his spear and made a play to stab him in the head. Naruto cracked his head against Pantheon's and dented his helmet. The man was staggered and Naruto picked him up to throw him. As the man flew through the air he correct his fall and landed on his feet, taking his fighting stance. Naruto did not.
"At last we can settle the score," Pantheon boosted. "I'm going to kill you for the humiliation you brought me!"
Naruto cleaned out his ear and jabbed a thumb in the general direction of Noxus and Demacia. "Get in line. Swain, Garen, both Jarvans, Xin, Darius, Sion, and Leblanc all want me dead. And that's just the start of this little list. You are all the way at the bottom." Pantheon grumbled a curse but readied his spear. Naruto waved a finger like he were lecturing a child. "You move, you die." Naruto pointed to Pantheon's chest. The man looked down and noticed three paper seals on his chest and suddenly there was fear in his eyes. "I'm not in a good mood today. I'd rather not be here. In fact, I'd rather be in Ionia right now celebrating my birthday and having fun. But like last year, something seems to just get in the way. This year my friend, Lee Sin, is burning himself. Noxus is going to try to play this off and I'm not allowed to interfere at all. But you don't care for that. Right now I'm angry enough to just smash you into oblivion and call it an act of rebellion. They'll take my word over yours any day."
"But you're admitting to it." Naruto pulled out the same piece of paper with his orders. He tossed it at the mans' feet. Pantheon was quick to read it over, and once he finished, he tore it up. Naruto pulled another one out and his glare intensified. "The League's laws do not reach out here. They refuse to let our tribe be under their grand protection. Not that we need it, but since they refuse to aid us, we refuse to listen to them. Though I and Leona are Champions, they have done nothing for us. So we not head their warnings."
Putting his third spare orders away, Naruto nodded softly. "I understand. But I work with the full authority to defend myself. If you attack me, or if anyone else attacks me again or my friends, I will kill you. Those are not words I say often. And I don't like repeating them. So I'm going to ask you a question now. I'm asking all of you this. Who is Diana?"
"A heretic!"
"Murderer!"
"Traitor!"
Naruto clenched his jaw and suddenly his anger spiked. With a snarl he yelled and all was quiet. The screams of the people were silenced and his rage consumed him. "Do you have idea on why she did what she did?! Huh?! You rejected her and what she wanted to believe in! I don't know that much about the situation, but I know enough! She was alone and had no one to turn to! She wanted someone to look up to her and smile! When she chose to believe in something else, you shunned her! I've been to your village four times! That three times you never saw me. Do you know what that tell me? It tell me that you don't care at all about the people around you! If they're different; you ignore them! All you care about is your war! It was always about war with you people! If you wanna fight, go save Ionia from Noxus! Go down to Noxus with your decree that the League can't control you and then let's see what happens! But no! You live in fear! All because you know that the League will come. When someone like Diana shows up you act tough and try to end the problem before they send someone like to figure it out, rather than report it! They're trying to bring peace to your world and all you care about is fighting!"
"It's what we were breed for!"
Naruto stomped the ground and the earth shook. "NO IT ISN'T!" He screamed and pointed an accusing finger at Pantheon. "I know you want to become a baker, Pantheon. I know you don't dream of war all the time. I know a lot of you don't dream of it!" He ran a hand through his hair and wanted to scream. He wanted to punch Pantheon. It was all he could to stop himself from detonating the bombs on his chest. Finally calming down, he looked at Ahri and Jax. Ahri was frightened by his fury. She hid behind Jax who stood with what might have been a worried look. "Pantheon… what happens when you win all your war? What happens when you kill every person that would stand up against you? What would you fight then? Each other? Is that really what you want?"
"War will never end. And we will always be there to fight it."
Laughing, Naruto turned away and started walking back to Ahri and Jax. "Whatever… Do what you want. Fight me. Fight each other. Fight Noxus or Demacia. I'm done. Do what you want. Come on. Let's go home."
"But… Kohaku and Diana are…" Ahri stopped when the sun poked through the clouds and she felt the presence of Kohaku and another at her side. The sun's rays dried the rain and that was when she saw Leona with a scowl on her face. Diana was being carried on Kohaku's back. "You're okay?"
"I'm fine…" Kohaku looked puzzled by the ordeal. "Are you injured?"
"I'm fine..."
"Naruto, Kohaku, Ahri, Jax, and Diana," Leona's voice was loud, but not screaming. The five turned her way and though she avoided their eye, it was clear she was sad. "If any of you ever step foot into our territory again, you will be killed on sight. Is that clear? You are to never come here again."
"Consider it done," Naruto snapped. "I'll miss our fun chats, Leona." Grabbing Ahri and throwing her on his back, he smiled at her, his rage finally gone. "Let's go back to Ionia. I'm sure Karma is worried about us." Without another word spoken, they departed. Kohaku carried the wounded Diana on his back and when Naruto finally slowed down, the blond said, "I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to fully introduce myself. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm the leader of this band of misfits."
"Misfits?" Jax asked with a snort. "I'm not a misfit."
"Yes you are," Ahri said, sticking her tongue out at him. Jax turned away scratching at his head. Ahri giggled and looked to the white haired woman. "So will you be staying with us in Ionia?"
"Actually," Kohaku stopped and the others did as well, "I'll be leaving once I've picked up my clothes from the shop. I'm sorry, but there is something I have to do. I wish not to drag you into it."
"Why? You think I can't handle it?"
"It's not that. It's just that…" Kohaku stopped and tried to think of a way to explain it. "My memories have gaps in them that don't make much sense to me. And when I showed them the deaths of Shinji and Savona, something puzzled me greatly. You see, as that creature, even when he was awake and I was asleep, I couldn't talk. So I have no memory of it speaking truly. But… I also killed Shinji before Maria learned my name and began the process of waking me. So somehow he learned my name and title. He even spoke to me and I, I guess, in turn, replied."
"So?"
"How could someone I never met, know my name when it was never given? I predated them. I only have their memories because of the sword. That's why I know so much in between the time I took it and when you freed me. I attacked their Order some four hundred years after my possession. Meaning that my name and title would have faded from almost all of history. Yet, somehow, he knew my name."
"And this somehow warrants you leaving?" Jax asked, clearly puzzled by the statement.
"I fear that the Dreamer may have sent me to them all those years ago to recruit Shinji. Besides the oddity of knowing my name and title, I killed him. He was a man that could not die and I did what was impossible. I killed someone that not only had the powers of the Sun, but the powers of a Phoenix. So he should have been reborn, yet he never was. So how could I kill someone that would just be reborn in fire?"
"Well… you got me there." Jax put a hand to his chin and thought it over. "I'd say team up with Ezreal, but he'd try and stick you in museum or something. So maybe that wouldn't be a good idea."
"What about you?" Ahri looked to Diana. She was about to pass out. "Never mind… We should tend to her wounds though."
"We'll tend to them again when we stop. But a real doctor needs to look at her. So when we get to Ionia, I'd suggest you not leave until she's ready to go. I'm assuming you're taking her? Karma won't like me bringing home another stray." Diana looked to the blond with furious eyes. He laughed and held his hands up. "Look, I was ordered to just figure out what happened. I wasn't supposed to start a war or anything else. I was only told to figure out what happened. After that, it was whatever I wanted. Personally, I don't much care what happens to you right now because I'm in a lousy mood. I'm not sure how much of it you heard, but I wasn't joking. I have a friend burning himself right now. I can't stop him. And the reason he's doing it is because of Noxus. And I can't mess with them either. If I could, you'd be dead because I wouldn't have bothered to show up. I would have marched over to Noxus and destroyed it."
"Not without me, right?" When Naruto shot Jax an annoyed look, the blue man sighed. "Look, let's just focus on getting to Ionia. Obviously you need to cool down. So let's get going. I need a shower and I want to get some alcohol in my system before the end of this week."
Naruto ground his teeth and rolled his eyes. Honestly, he had some odd friends.
(-)
Akali busted through the door and stood holding the stitch in her chest. Kennen walked in without so much as a cough. Both were covered in sweet and Karma knew that they had both run to get here. Kennen might have actually speed walked, but from the sweet that both had, she doubted very much that it was a leisurely run.
"What's the matter?"
"It's Syndra," Akali gasped out. Her breathing was ragged. Irelia pushed off the wall and went to the Kunoichi. "She's left her temple and is not due for any matches this week. She was last seen heading for the coast!"
Karma tried to understand what that meant, but as soon as it struck her why Syndra would go there, Irelia asked it anyways. "Why go to the coast? There's nothing there but Noxus military bases. If she's planning on assaulting them, then it won't do us any harm. Everyone knows we don't control her. She does what she wants. We just sort of… live in fear of her."
"She's going after Naruto. They're on their way back," Kennen explained. The color drained from Irelia's face. She didn't picture a fight between those two ending peacefully. Naruto was powerful, but against Syndra, she doubted Naruto could stand up to her. That was under the assumption that Naruto would let her wail on him like he let most females.
"Send out the guards!" Karma demanded. "We can't let them fight. If Naruto fights here, then I fear that they may cause too much collateral damage."
"Gotcha!" Irelia departed. Akali stood up straight, her breath final back. "Kennen, Akali, please inform Shen and see if he can mobilize any of the Kinkou to aid them. I don't wish for blood, but if she's going to make a move, I'm going to stop her." She looked to Kennen and said, "Please get Soraka for me. I fear I may need all the help I can get."
(-)
Syndra raised a hand and attacked as soon as they were on the main path. The explosion consumed all five of them. She saw a blur of motion and a dark orb disintegrate, revealing Kohaku and Jax along with a woman with white hair. Naruto appeared out of the shadows with Ahri on his back. Syndra smiled and floated down from her perch.
"Get everyone out of here," Naruto summoned a clone that took Ahri. Her tails were rigid and her expression was one of fear. Jax grimaced as he waited for the next attack. Shadow moved along the ground took the clone, along with Ahri, Jax, and Diana away. Free from fear of their injury in the fight, Naruto stuck his hands in his pockets and glanced over his shoulder. The dock was still pretty close by. "Let's go somewhere else if we're really going to do this, Syndra. No one else needs be hurt here."
She threw a dozen orbs his way. Naruto avoided them in the blink of an eye and appeared to her left. She swung a hand out and tried to hit him again. Like before he dodged with relative ease and appeared on the opposite side of her. She snarled and summoned the full force of her magical might. It was crushing to most. Naruto remained standing and his eyes reflecting a deep sense of sadness.
She spun and ripped a tree from the ground. With a flick of her finger she hurled it at him. Naruto appeared in front of her as her outstretched arm was brought up. Naruto reached out and touched her wrist. She pulled back sharply, tears almost forming in her eyes. Something crawled and wiggled in the deep of her mind. Naruto remained close and closed the gap with ease. She kept retreating until her back was to a tree. Naruto reached out to touch her mind and drag her back before the Kyuubi to try and reason with her again when suddenly he felt her entire aura shift. Suddenly she had no desire to fight. Her rage or whatever it was subsided and was replaced with uncertainty, regret, sadness, and fear.
Pulling his hand back, he watched as her cheeks turned red and she dropped to the ground and then her knees. She was overrun with a coughing fit. Her face grew pale and without warning she fell over on her side.
"Hey? Syndra? Are you okay?" She didn't respond. Naruto dropped to his knees and put a hand to her head. You're hot. You have a fever? How did you get sick? Naruto looked around and hated himself. He couldn't leave her here. She would die. Muggers might kill here or rape her. Probably both if they were Noxians. Sighing, he picked her up and headed for her temple. If anything, he was going to make sure she got back home safely.
"Why…" Naruto paused in his travels once he reached the temple and looked at her. She was sleep talking? "Why did you cry for him? Why did you cry for the boy with red hair?" She buried her face closer into his arms.
Gaara… Naruto closed his eyes and pictured his friend in his mind. Naruto moved into the temple and found what he hoped was her room. Laying her on the bed he removed her clothes, put her under the blankets and moved out into the training ground. He sat down and looked at the sun. So that's happened… A memory link was created between us. What did you see aside from that, Syndra? Naruto looked around the temple ground and saw a younger Syndra running with a ball that she loved. She lost the ball to her power and became sad. How much of your pain have I seen?
Retracting deep inside himself, Naruto came to face with the image of Sasuke. He was clapping.
"It's time we talked some more."
A/N
So after about maybe half way through the next chapter, Kohaku will be leaving. Obviously Diana isn't staying in Ionia, so don't worry about that. She's going with Kohaku. If that wasn't clear, I'm making it clear now because all she did was demand he atone by telling her stories of her people and their strength. Basically, a woman's way of saying, "I'm coming with you," or at least most of the girls I've talked to and been blind to such things.
So the more I thought on the fight the more I came to the conclusion that the awesome fights I wanna do don't go too well when they're in the my head. Some of them I can do, what I wanted to do was more cgi stuff that a big hit movie might have that I can't word correctly or spend eighteen days writing to show. I'm not trying to get a chapter out weekly, but I'm I'd rather not go a month without a chapter and when I do post one, have it be some twenty thousand long chapter that makes me just wanna pull my hair out because I hate rereading it once I've posted it. I actually reread my own posted work. Not sure how many authors do that, but I write what I wanna read so I read my own stuff.
So now the real question to all of this is what's going on? Obviously I cut out Kohaku showing the memory of Shinji and Savona's death. I did that because it plays a part later on. And if you want a rough idea on what Shinji, when fused with the Phoenix looks like, think of BurningGreymon. Honestly, the fist image I got from armored dragon knights pretty much pulled up a similar image and I liked it. I didn't actually realize that it was BurningGreymon until I actually was listening to music that I grew up with, Digimon Frontier was one of them, shut up, don't judge. And I realize what it was. And decided to keep it. If you're curious about the music I was listening to when I was writing the fight, though as small as it was, I was listening to Go Gold Ranger from Power Rangers Zeo. Yes, I'm a nerd who grew up with the Power Rangers. They taught me that violence solves everything. Too bad I don't believe in fighting because all I think it does it makes hate each other and not the people that might force us to fight said people. So that's like a double negative I think.
So, here's a question. Syndra's temple is a floating castle if you will. It has never been shown for how high it is nor has it been shown for its exact position in Ionia. So I'm assuming that it's sort of close to the capital. Maybe not but who knows. I might have read something wrong. If so, sorry. But I like to think that she does have people watching her every move and that the Kinkou would clearly be the ones to do it.
So I'm not sure if they changed Udyr's lore. I pretty sure that they did and for the life of me, I can't remember his old one. But I do know that at some point in his new one he came to be friends with Lee Sin because he helped calm his spirits and thus make him who is today. He sided with them in the rematch for the isles Ionia vs Noxus and helped beat the shit out of them. Since there is no time frame for what I saw for when he became friends with Lee Sin, I'm saying it was before he burned his eyes out like what he's doing now and that Udyr has yet to gain full control over the spirits within him.
Anyways, next chapter will be less hectic and more focused on the odd figure that appeared when everyone watching Naruto's match against Piltover with Zaun. Some of you asked and I said he's a champion. Hopefully you all know who that is by now.