Adam lay back in the soft cushions of the bed, 'I don't think it's right for me to feel this comfortable'. In the distance, a bell started to ring and he opened his eyes, looking at the door. The bell ringed on and on before its last long note struck across the institute. It was still the first day he had been in this place, and its atmosphere already had him captivated.
Adam could already hear the footsteps coming his way. He sluggishly removed himself from the covers and pulled himself over to the door. On the other side, Alex raised his hand to knock but the large door suddenly swung completely open before he laid his hands down.
Adam's eyes roved up and down the summoner, "mmmmmm yes?" He slurred. He looked at Alex's side and saw another, shorter, summoner. He rubbed his eyes and stood more upright. "I feel like it's too early for you to be waking me up, also was that bed made of the softest material on this planet cause it feels quite nice."
"Yes, we do try and provide our champions with the best materials." Alex tapped his clipboard in front of him.
"So whos your friend?"
"Oh, this is Lyss." Alex stepped to the side. Lyss was short, very short, she wore her hood low so Adam still couldn't see her face correctly. Then she reached up to remove it.
"I had to chase down this knucklehead because he forgot to remind me that he left me with all of his paperwork to chase after a temporary job." Lyss was a yordle. She glared at Alex who only had a sheepish grin on his face.
"Yeah, but you can deal with it," Alex muttered.
"I GOT TWO HOURS OF SLEEP AFTER TAKING SEVEN CUPS OF COFFEE TRYING TO STAY UP" Lyss looked pissed. Adam smiled, she had long elf-like ears and was covered in a layer of chestnut fur. Her wide golden eyes looked up at him with both innocence and the look of intrigue, proof that she was not just a child. The deep purple robe dragged on the ground behind her a couple of inches. She looked back at Adam.
"Sorry for the slightly rude introduction but Alex thought it would be a good idea to drag me along."
"You two must be good friends." Adam stepped into the hall and closed the door behind him.
"Hah, talk about it I had to carry his ass just to pass summoner training."
"Lyss, not right now. I am hungry and I am sure Adam is too, we can talk about it over dinner." Alex started his long stride back down the hall.
"Adam if you didn't already notice that bell was to announce that all games for today have finally come to a close. The only other time they will ring will be when the matches start." They reached a round room with hallways leading off in other directions.
"This leads to all of the others champion's quarters." Some of the hallways had banners flying above them to show the different factions. The black axe of Noxus, the winged sword for Demacia, the Ionian ring, Bilgewater Cutlass, and a few more splayed out further down the room. Adam had to walk a little faster to keep up with Alex's long stride, Lyss was practically keeping up a light jog.
"Now is a good time to get acquainted with your fellow champions, a majority of them stay here during the week so you will be able to see them at the dining hall." As they went along Adam noticed numerous other hallways extending off into more corridors. "Is there a map for this place?"
"Yea, it's somewhere in your room in one of the drawers I think," Lyss said, she was, surprisingly enough, able to keep up without breaking a sweat.
'Did you seriously forget to look there?' Adam mentally poked the demon.
'Psh, don't expect me to get to everything, I was tired too y'know.'
'Sure.' Adam rolled his eyes at no one.
"So Alex, what's so special about this one? He looks way too normal to be the champion sort." Lyss said. "Like I know we have a very extensive process but Adam here seems a little plain beside the very ominous aura and slightly strange clothing." The black liquid crawled on the floor and gripped on the back of Lyss' cloak, she stumbled forward and shot a glare behind her which turned into a look of confusion. Adam's eyes glowed red and the substance retracted back into his skin along his leg. "What was tha-"
"We're here." Alex interrupted.
"But!" Lyss wanted to understand what had just happened.
"Don't worry you will see plenty of it on the rift later."
Their walk was only five minutes until they reached the central dining hall. Tables were all around the room, spread out evenly across the massive hall. Food vendors spread out across the walls of the room, hailing from every corner of the globe, many of which Adam didn't even recognize. In front of him, Adam saw the strangest group of creatures and people sitting along tables. Conversation in the room dimmed in and multiple heads towards him.
Suddenly that dark cottage in the woods looked a lot more comfortable than the place he was standing. He gulped and tried to shake off the awkward feeling. "So how does this place work?"
"Just go to one of the food booths and grab whatever, it's buffet style and sometimes the chefs throw in something special." As he walked across the room many started to lose interest and went back to chewing on their meals. Adam scanned the room, a couple were still staring at him, others glaring as if they had already decided that he was an enemy.
Adam looked up and caught a glance of a familiar sight. He smiled and went to quickly grab a small meal of just rice and some beef. As he looked left there were a few faces he had recognized from his journey. The mage and scout that he had encountered in Demacia were sitting together, surrounded by other warriors wearing the colors of the city.
"Alex I am going to have to ask you to talk to me later, I have some business to attend to. Some old friends." Alex just shrugged.
"Fine, I was going to tell you about the match tomorrow but it's not that big of a deal. If you really must then, by all means, go talk, I'll give you a wake-up call in the morning."
"Thanks, see you laterrrrr."
Adam peeled his eyes away and looked to his right, walking towards the target.
'Now that's…. Weird. I've seen a lot of shit but this…. This is something else.' The voice of the demon spoke out. There was a little girl clutching a teddy bear and looked to be having a tea party with a…. With a thing? The creature had a long flowing plume of white hair that completely covered what he assumed was its face.
'Is it wearing a mask?'
'I don't know. Maybe? It could be his face.' The THING was wearing very large puffy clothes and had peg legs tucked under the table. Next to it was an instrument of some sort that resembled a horn. It raised the glass the little girl provided and just held it in front of its face before setting it back down on the table. The girl continued to giggle and hug the teddy bear.
'This place is weird.' Soon Adam stood directly behind the person he was looking for, they were silently eating at a long table near the corner of the room. He placed his food down and plopped down in the chair.
"Long time no see." The lone figure looked up.
"Adam?"
"Told you we would see each other again." Adam grinned at the familiar face of the samurai.
"What are you doing here?"
"Do you really have to ask?" Adam smiled, there was silence between the two and soon he picked up the pair of chopsticks on his tray and started to pick at the plain rice he had settled for. It was better not to get to fancy on the first day, there was plenty of time to try different foods.
"So" He talked in between small bites.
"How did you end up here Yasuo?" Yasuo continued to stare at the red-eyed Ionian, still stunned at his sudden appearance. "You still seem surprised." Adam tilted his head to the side and chewed in thought.
"Well, I didn't expect us to meet up… here. Didn't know you were much for this kind of thing." Yasuo tentatively started to pick at his own plate once again.
"Good to see you too buddy." Their previous encounter had been short but the two still shared a small bond. Adam leaned forward to whisper.
"So, how are you liking it so far?"
"What?"
"The league, the people, how is it?"
"Oh that, it's… interesting, and complicated."
"Someone sounds lonely sitting in the corner."
'He was the target of multiple assassination attempts.' The demon said.
'This is true.'
'Oh I know, ask him if he found what he was looking for, he said something about that when we parted ways.'
"So Yas, way back when you said you were looking for someone, have you found that special someone here." Adam wouldn't stop smiling.
"Yes.. and no."
"What? Did they die or something?" Adam chewed and raised an eyebrow.
"No no no, it's just… they weren't the person they were before. Like I said, it's complicated, this whole place is mysterious." He looked back down at the plate in front of him, picking the last bits of food from its surface.
"Why are you sitting here all alone? Some people here look kind of inviting. Kind of." Adam took a look around the room again. A crazed yordle was stabbing tomatoes with an very uniqe looking axe. A hideous purple creature in the back was ravaging an entire mountain of food. He watched in shocked awe as a card match almost escalated into two men blowing each other heads off with oversized guns. People were already quietly evacuating from that corner of the room. "Yea… very hospitable."
"Well… I am convicted of High Treason by Ionia, although I am protected by the league there isn't a single person who doesn't know my past." Yasuo looked down.
"But you're a good guy, you should make some friends." The only reply Adam got was a poker face.
"How about, friendly acquaintances instead?"
"I understand you are trying to help but now is not the time."
"Fine fine, but if you do like antisocial assholes there was this one person. I'm pretty sure their name was Vayne. She works here right?"
Yasuo smiled a tiny bit. "Yea."
"Greaaat. Oh, boy, do I have shit planned."
"Just don't rope me too far into this." He grimaced from the previous experiences with Adam.
'He doesn't know that it's too late for that, I pity him.'
"Sure," Adam lied, "but I am also going to help you work out whatever stuff you got going with this other person." Adam stood up, empty bowl in hand.
Yasuo stayed seated and raised an eyebrow. "Why?" Yasuo asked.
'Yea, it's too late for him now.' The demon snickered.
"Because I'm bored. Don't worry, I will make it as enjoyable as possible." Adam had a devilish smile on his face and he disappeared out of thin air, reappearing on the other side of the room and dropping the tray in a collection zone. 'This is only the beginning.'
'Ready?'
'Ready.'