Someone's here.
That was the first thought on Akali's mind as the presence of an intruder jolted her from her serene slumber. Unnerved by her tingling assassin senses her eyes fell upon Zevach's face, who was still peacefully sleeping. Akali, after she had managed to break Zevach's grip on her waist, peeled off the sheets from her sticky body and randomly put on clothes that she had thrown into her closet.
With each passing second, she could feel the intruder approaching her bedroom, and Akali silenced herself to the point where she could hear her own frantic heartbeat.
The shadows beneath the door came to a halt, and Akali fixed her body to pounce on the stranger. The knob turned ever so slowly, and the door creaked open. Before the intruder could respond, Akali lunged at the obscured figure and tackled the person head first, knocking both of them down onto the floor.
Opting to reveal the person's identity before pummeling him to the ground, Akali's fingers gripped the hood of the stranger and began to lift it up, but something battered Akali's stomach savagely, flinging her body down the stairs as if she was a feather. However, Akali managed to skillfully compose herself midair and landed on her feet. Her eyes narrowed to the shadow of the person who now stood tall and erect at the top of the stairwell.
"State your business, stranger, or leave." Akali hoped that her stony voice would intimidate the trespasser, but the person stayed rooted to the ground. Akali's eyes scanned the person's every moment, cautiously seeking out any signs of incoming attacks. Her predictions proved to be correct because not a few seconds later, the infiltrator hurled an unknown object to Akali.
Akali's head snapped to the thing that had nearly killed her. It was a dark purple sphere.
She clenched her fists upon realizing who the invader was, and looked back to the peak of the stairwell. The person slowly pulled back the hood, confirming Akali's suspicions. It was rather difficult to erase such a repulsive and haunting guise from her mind.
"Hello, Akali." Syndra's voice echoed in her mind, and she wanted nothing more than to erase Syndra permanently.
"Let's skip the pleasantries, shrew, and state your business." Syndra's sneer immediately flipped into a scowl, but she remained silent to annoy Akali.
She puffed out in annoyance, trying to prevent herself from lashing out at Syndra. "You have a minute before I lose control and kill you, you wench." Despite the seriousness of the entire situation, a tiny voice applauded Akali for coming up with such great disparaging comments. "What business do you have with me?"
Her eyes intently watched Syndra as she stripped off her cloak completely, revealing her deep eminence colored outfit. "Who said my business was with you?" The hint of derision in Syndra's voice evoked a murderous feeling within Akali, one that made her want to shred Syndra's throat.
But Akali then became conscious of the fact that the only person living in her house was Zevach. Disorientation and bewilderment occupied her mind as she struggled to deduce what kind of connection Zevach could possibly have with Syndra, yet Akali feared the answer.
"Who are you here for then?" Akali asked hesitantly, and each word seemed to strangulate her insides.
The smile that Syndra flashed Akali made her feel lightheaded and dizzy. "I think it's only fair that he tell you." Her head turned to the direction of her bedroom, where another figure emerged from the shadows. Her heart stopped as a now clothed Zevach walked to Syndra's side.
"I see you've bedded her," Syndra noted.
"Ze-Zevach?" Akali whispered painfully, foolishly trying to ignore Syndra's statement.
What's going on? she cried out mentally, her confusion and unease nearly willing her to tears.
A derisive and malevolent bark of laughter escaped Syndra's dark lips. "You've been letting that thing call you Zevach?! Ha!" Her inconsonant cackles made Akali wince uncontrollably, but she held her stare firmly on Zevach.
"What is she talking about?" Akali asked, as the person she had cared for and come to known became a stranger with each second that ticked by.
"Tell this imbecile who you are."
Akali's heart clenched involuntarily as she awaited his answer. After looking down through the entire encounter, Zed, who had been previously staring at the floor, looked down at her to meet her gaze with sad and regretful eyes. It was a look that she was all too familiar with.
"I am Zed."
It was like her soul was ripped out of her body.
Zed...?
She had brought home Zed?! Of all people to find bleeding to death in an alley, she found Zed? She had even kissed him, and done many other unladylike things with the one person she wholeheartedly hated. After so many years of trying to futilely trying to eradicate his existence from Akali's mind, she had unknowingly welcomed him back into her life. All the memories she shared with the supposed innocent man she had saved came crashing down on her, and it made her want to vomit knowing that she had done everything with the heartless killer that was Zed.
A devastated Akali collapsed to her knees, tilting her head down to obscure her tears. She was lost, so very, very lost. If there was anything Akali hated, it was being powerless.
"I see you two have much to discuss. I'll leave you two alone."
Akali bitterly laughed at Syndra's spurious consideration as Syndra walked down the stairs past Akali to leave, but not before shooting her a smug look. The familiar click of the front door closing resounded through the house.
"H-how could you?" Akali whispered between her sobs.
Instead of answering her question, Zev- Zed asked his own. "Do you hate me?" His words penetrated through her soul, making her body quake, and to Akali, it felt as if she had dreamt the entire situation.
Akali didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes," her lips said with her lips, but not her mind.
The remnants of her tears fell down her cheek as she stopped to think about her answer. Did she really hate Zed, after that incredible month he had given her?
He had amnesia, her conscious replied disdainfully. He's still the sadistic shadow he's always been.
Yet, why wasn't he trying to kill her, if he truly was the evil murderer her mind had described him as? More so, of all questions to ask why had he asked that one? Perhaps he wasn't evil anymore.
Wishful thinking.
The sound of floorboards creaking under heavy weight snapped Akali back into reality, and she looked up to the stairwell and at Zed's back as he walked away from her.
"No." She cried out desperately, wishing that he would stay. Her pleas were not heard.
"I don't," she said again for emphasis. Gathering her strength, Akali wobbly stood onto her feet and waited for Zed to say something, anything.
All he did was continue to walk away from her as if she didn't exist, abandoning her for the second time. Despite her logical side commanding her to remain silent and watch the murderer leave, Akali's instincts made her call out to Zed desperately in hopes that he would stay.
"You said you would never leave me." Her words effectively stopped Zed in his tracks, but he didn't turn around to meet Akali's eyes. Had he turned around, Akali was sure she would completely wither, both mentally and physically.
"People lie."
Just like that, it came crashing down on Akali that everything really had been a lie. Her body, mind, and soul unable to cope with her pain, Akali's world faded into a desolate, black nothingness of despair.
A month had passed since Zed had skipped off with Syndra, a whole grievous, dreadful month spent crying her eyes out and lamenting her loss. She had wholeheartedly tried her hardest to hate Zed, the source of all her misery throughout her life, but she couldn't. Now that Zed remembered his past ruthless, evil, and murderous self, the person that Akali loathed fervidly, reason stated that she should've fell out of love, so to speak.
Yet… it startled Akali how such a villainous and vile creature could possess an affectionate and humane side, one that she had witnessed, experienced, and named "Zevach." Even in the unlikely event that Zed returned to her, would she be able to see the lively and spirited "Zevach" within Zed, or would the man she loved disappear from this world as if he had been a figment of Akali's imagination?
The next five months were occupied with the frequent visits of Shen and Kennen, both of whom obstinately stated, "I should've known!" Akali was smothered with gifts given in attempts to divert her mind from the catastrophe of Zed, whose current location was unknown. Akali had often found herself wondering where he had scampered off to, and whether he missed her much as she missed him. Then, she'd curse at herself for thinking about him day and night.
Shen and Kennen felt no need to otherwise intrude any further into her life, until one day, they witnessed Akali's incapability of opening a Nutella jar without drowning in her own tears.
"I think the best thing to do is to forget all about this chapter in your life," Shen had suggested to her, showing his caring and sympathetic side. "It'll be good for all of us." Kennen had seized the opportunity by suggesting that Akali go back to the hospital.
"You know, Amumu has been incessantly crying because he misses you. Going to the hospital will not only distract yourself, but also brighten your patients' days, like Amumu." Kennen lovingly put his furry paw over Akali's human counterpart. "The hospital needs you just as much as you need it."
Kennen watched the skepticism take form upon Akali's face, so he added, "Trust me."
And so, Akali embarked on a long journey to heal her untenable wounds.
"Yes, Shen, I am on my way to the hospital right now," Akali spoke into her phone, struggling to keep her bag firmly placed on her shoulder. "I promised you that I would come to the hospital, and Iam. Anyway, I can't walk and talk at the same time. I'll talk to you when I arrive." After they bid farewell to each other over the phone, Akali proceeded to walk to the hospital in anticipation.
The sun beamed warmly upon Akali's skin, and she inhaled deeply to memorize the fleeting season of spring. The weather had been kind enough and allowed Akali to wear a golden yellow sundress, just bright enough to enhance Akali's beauty without offending the eyes.
Within a little over six months, Akali had went from being given the best time of her life to being stripped of it within minutes to sobbing over her arch enemy to returning to the hospital as if nothing had happened. No matter what anyone said, she at least deserved an award for emotionally enduring everything. To think that just the previous day, Akali had been sulking and dreading about going back to work, but now she experienced pleasant tremors of excitement to finally visit her second home.
Despite her ephemeral happiness, Akali wished nothing more than to forget about her time with Zed. Maybe this time, he would permanently keep out of her life. Twice she had had to deal with his destruction; Akali would ensure there would be no third time.
Roughly a half hour later, Akali arrived at the hospital, where Shen and Kennen serendipitously happened to be taking their lunch breaks. They welcomed her back to the hospital with hearty hugs. At the sight of Akali, Amumu wept a puddle of tears and tossed a bandage at her, propelling him forward to give her a mummy hug.
"A-Akali!" Amumu stopped to stutter between his tears. "E-even though you give me shots that hurt, I m-missed you!" he cried before burying his face into the crook of her neck. Akali gave him light pats on the back to soothe the sad mummy, offering him a smile of consolation.
It's good to be back.
Akali's work at the hospital slowly eased its way back into her life, keeping her occupied every weekday. Seemingly, everything in her life fell back to place where it should have been. Zed had done a superb job of avoiding Akali and simultaneously, the law.
It was over for now. As life had it, Akali was able to live the next few weeks of her life without worry. However, a foreboding feeling crossed Akali's mind. The frightening thing was that it stayed with her through the weeks, which turned into months.
Akali knew what her instincts were telling her. She was being watched, yet again.
A sigh escaped Akali's lips as she glanced at her watch. It was nearing afternoon, her lunch break, and Akali usually ate with Shen and Kennen. Grabbing her lunch eagerly, Akali barely restrained herself from running to the cafeteria like a lunatic. Instead of seeing a dynamic Kennen and a passive Shen, both of them seemed…disheveled, though it was unclear about what. Judging by the somber looks on their faces, something terrible must have occurred.
"Akali," Shen said with a stolid expression as Akali approached his table. Akali was familiar with that expression, the same one he had worn when he warned her about Zed.
"Are you guys alright? You two are awfully wan. It's quite frightening," she joked, trying to lighten the mood, but was greeted with two unappreciative stares. The grave expression that Shen donned caused Akali to frown in a similar fashion. When Shen refused to answer her question, her eyes traveled to the yordle for more information. "What happened?"
"He's back, Akali." Her stare was fixed upon Kennen at his reply, making the yordle cower back in nervousness.
"What?" Her parched throat refused to swallow her hysteria. "Pardon?"
"Zed recently made an appearance at the library of the Lotus Temple," Shen answered for Kennen, his face growing paler. Her heart rate elevated drastically as his words took their time to sink in, and suddenly, the warm spring weather made her feel frostbitten. Akali's knees buckled unexpectedly, causing her to crumble into a nearby chair.
How can that be? The library of the Lotus Temple housed hundreds of thousands of ancient written pieces, from fables to classic poetry. There were no books in that library that could even remotely tickle his fancy, especially one owned by a temple, and Akali doubted he had a sudden hankering for a classic novella.
"Are the monks a-alright?" At a loss of questions, Akali couldn't help but wonder about the damage Zed had inflicted. "Did he kill anyone?!" He was back to his murderous self.
"Thankfully, he showed some restraint," was Shen's terse reply. "No one was hurt, just a little shaken." Before Akali could query more about Zed's motives, Shen correctly predicted her questions and continued. "He was in and out of the library within five minutes. The monks at standing nearby witnessed him holding a decrepit book as he escaped, but because of the vast number of books in the library, they're still trying to figure out which one he pilfered."
What affiliation did Zed have the Lotus Temple? Zed wasn't one to be very fond of temples, as made evident by the previous ransack of the Kinkou Temple. Syndra especially loathed temples due to her own twisted past, so the only logical explanation to go back was to seek revenge. But why would they return to the library of a relatively remote temple? The pieces didn't fit into place.
Akali was so busy forming hypotheses that she failed to notice the pang of jealousy at the mention of Syndra, or perhaps she did realize but chose to ignore it.
The rest of her day at the hospital flew by quickly, and Akali huffily cursed the hours for not giving her more time to think. She cursed everyone who rudely thumped her shoulder as she sauntered on the sidewalk. She cursed the cracks for blemishing the concrete as she stepped over each one. She vehemently swore at the cruel irony of the world for bringing Zed into her life not once, but twice. As she neared the alley where she encountered "Zevach," she wasn't hesitant to turn her head the other way and zip past it.
Her dark home came into her view, breaking her thoughts of profanity. She hastily walked up to her front door, jammed the key into the lock, and slammed the door open, impatient to face plant her pillow. But the feeling that had nagged her for weeks on end, the sensation that she was being watched, grew stronger as Akali entered the house. Everything seemed to be normal, yet everything seemed out of place.
Was Syndra back for round two? Ferocious growls left Akali's throat as she contemplated what to do to Syndra. This time she would give her a swift uppercut to the jaw, and maybe throw in a few kicks and punches here and the-
Her brain emptied itself of all thoughts as a creak was brought to her attention. Her ears shifted in an effort to locate the source of the sound, and her pupils dilated in response to her concentrated senses. Someone was definitely here with her, but Akali couldn't decipher whether the intruder was evil or benevolent. Reflecting upon the patterns of the intruders, there were only two choices of who the person could be. If it wasn't Syndra then it was-
An arm wrapped around her waist securely, and a gloved hand muffled any sounds or cries that she could make. Hoping that the attacker was indeed who she suspected, Akali swiftly kicked her heel up with the intention of kicking him in the genitals, but the assailant moved quicker and absorbed her kick with his own leg.
"Mmph!" Akali flailed in the iron clamp of the intruder, and tried to gain some leeway to escape from the grip, but the trespasser knew what he was doing.
The person shifted from behind her, leaning forward to her ear. "Heh." Her now glassy eyes widened in terror as Akali registered Zed's laugh, and suddenly, her body refused to retaliate. "Miss me,dear?" His voice was brimmed with sarcasm and condescension, and just imagining the smug gleam in Zed's eyes riled up Akali.
Akali's body quickly resumed its thrashing against Zed, but he didn't budge. An undeterminable amount of time passed by, and her resolve to escape died as instantly as it came. "If you'll be a good girl, I might just let you talk." Akali's throat produced a few feral snarls before deciding to give in to his deal. "Good girl," Zed drawled out patronizingly, and removed his hand from her mouth.
She didn't speak, which regrettably opened her up to more of Zed's comments. "What, now that you're given a chance to talk, you won't speak?"
"Why the hell are you here? Haven't you caused enough misery in my life?" Akali hissed at him.
Oh god. Don't flash back. Please for the love of god don't flash back. She commanded her mind not to think about that one fateful month. Don't, don't, don't.
"I'm just dropping in to see how my little Akali is doing," he cooed, inducing an urge to vomit. Akali acknowledged that she liked him better the last time he was here, when he was capable of feeling remorse.
"I'm not yours, so get the hell away from me," she shrilled out, offering a few more pathetic lashes before fully agreeing that she was indeed stuck in his demented embrace.
"Oh, but you are," Zed breathed into her ear slowly, making sure Akali understood every word. "I've been watching you for a while, and I find you absolutely exquisite. Did you miss me in the months I was gone?"
"Of course I haven't," Akali replied unconvincingly, altogether ignoring his admittance of watching her. His derisive laughter entered her ear again at her own deception.
Zed uttered in response, "I'd be more convinced if you hadn't spent six months bed ridden with sorrow." Akali's cheeks blazed with degradation as she tried to imagine what else he had seen. Had he seen her cry over the Nutella jars? A list of all the embarrassing things she had done within six months appeared in her mind, and Akali would've fainted from embarrassment if her arch nemesis didn't have a death grip on her.
Her trance was disrupted as he sadly continued to speak. "I must say, Akali, that I do in fact miss this." To add meaning behind his words, his burly hands began to audaciously move up and down every curve of her body.
Akali's eyes nearly rolled to the back of her head as she remembered his gentle touches, and couldn't bring herself to stop him. It wasn't until his hands reached the hem of her pants that she realized her predicament and growled, "Don't touch me, you bastard."
"Back to name calling, are we?" She didn't miss the amused tone in his voice as his hands nestled onto her voluptuous hips.
Akali knew she should have felt repulsed. Mentally, she was disgusted with herself for fraternizing with the enemy, but he had that possession over her mind, body, and soul. "I know that you want me to stay with you, for me to hold you, and say that 'I love you,' isn't that right?" Her teeth clenched together with a refusal to answer, annoying Zed with her obstinacy. Determined to elicit some type of reaction from her, Zed stripped off his gloves and with his bare fingertips, lightly trailed Akali's toned body again.
"Stop-" The influx of pleasure from just his touch was enough to mute Akali. Unwilling to give him satisfaction, Akali closed her eyes and leaned her head back against Zed's shoulder.
Oh my god. His fingers made her feel euphoria, made her feel high, and despite her conscience screaming at her to deny his touch, Akali foolishly welcomed it.
"Stop staying silent," he grit out, vexed. The torture to stay quiet grew more difficult as he continued his ministrations. God, how Akali had missed him.
His fingers reached to lift up the bottom of her shirt, and it did, in fact, elicit a response from Akali. Her hands reflexively gripped his wrists tightly, and summoning all of the strength she had, Akali flipped him over her and onto the floor. Now that Zed was lying in front of her, Akali seized the opportunity to clear her mind (and also shamelessly ogle his body).
"No mask?" Akali jeered as she saw his bare face, trying to erase her mind of the extremely gratifying moments before. Zed laid on the ground instead of getting up, arousing suspicion in Akali.
"I'm going to ask you one more time before I hurt you," Akali said. "Why are you here?"
The smile she received peeved her. "I'm here to retrieve you." Akali's hazel eyes narrowed at the figure lying before her. "Why are you here for me?" With all her concentration focused on Zed, Akali failed to perceive the shadow behind her.
"Didn't I tell you all those years ago?" He laughed again.
"I'm here to break you," was all she heard before Zed jumped to the shadow behind Akali and knocked her unconscious.
Sorry guys for not uploading for a reaaaaaally long time, but I've been incredibly busy with school and just life in general. whoot... Honestly with so much work to do and little free time to myself, I've begun to value those moments where I can just sit down and write for two hours straight. #blessed
If you guys want me to add more to each chapter instead of the typical 2k-3k word chapter (even though this one is almost 4k words [self congratulatory pat on the back]), just let me know, but the downside to that is even longer update wait times.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you see any mistakes, post a review, as it does help improve upon this story.
Have a sunshiny day. ;D