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Thank you to everyone who favirouted, followed or reviewed this fic so far.

So I watched Act II of Arcane yesterday, and once again, my expectations were blown the fuck out of the park. Sure it wasn't as good as Act I, but it was still pretty good. Jayce is being an asshole again, and Viktor being a chad.

*SPOILERS Viktor is now dying. Maybe this is how he becomes the Machine Herald. Still hoping Vander becomes Warwick at some point. END SPOILERS*

I am super excited for Act III. This is gonna be awesome. I can feel it.

This chapter will begin the second arc, and will be in the region known as Shurima.

Chapter 26- Rise of the Ascended

Runeterra, Shurima Desert, 989 AN

Sara staggered across the hot desert sand. Rivulets of sweat ran down her face. She had been wandering throughout the desert for what seemed like an eternity. Her throat was as dry as sandpaper.

From her limited knowledge, she knew this was the Shurima Desert. There was only one place on Runeterra that was a desert, at least that she knew of.

'I need to find water, soon.' She thought to herself. The hot sun beat down upon the land, and a trail of sweat ran down her neck.

'Sara, you need to keep going,' the Aspect of the Wanderer urged inside her mind. 'There is something great approaching. I do not know what it is, but I have a feeling it will be extraordinary.'

Sara frowned at the Aspect said. Her legs continued stumbling across the desert sand. Her vision started to swim as dehydration set in.

She looked around her. The desert stretched out endlessly, dunes everywhere. Small pillars lay scattered, the last reminder of an empire now long gone.

Sara recalled something Master Yi said. 'Runeterra is a world littered with the broken remains of empires that all believed they were eternal.'

"Guess he wasn't wrong there." Sara chuckled to herself.

Sara fell to her knees, exhausted and unable to keep going.

'Come on.' She mentally urged herself, but her body refused to listen.

Almost as if an unseen force lifted her up onto her feet, she staggered towards some old ruins in the middle of the desert.

She felt some kind of pull towards it, for whatever reason.

Sara stopped near the ruins, old pillars lying in the middle of the desert.

"Ozymandias, it's you again." She chuckled wryly to herself. Then she felt herself beginning to black out.

Eventually, she did.

Sara's dreams were weird. She dreamt she was in a barn full of animals. Most wanted to eat her. The rest wanted food.

Sara woke up to the sound of clashing blades. She still felt exhausted, except now she had a splitting headache.

Sara looked around, wondering where the sound was coming from. Then her ears perked up on hearing it down below.

Slowly getting up, Sara crept forward. Her eyes widened on seeing what was happening below.

Two women were locked in an intense duel.

One was a beautiful, brown skinned woman wearing a tank top, and tight leggings that clung to her athletic form, exposing rippling abs. Dark hair trailed down her back as she spun a blade in her hand.

"Damn, she looks hot," Sara murmured, looking at her. "I wouldn't mind getting some action with her."

The other woman was pale-skinned. Her dress was green and wore green jewirily, topped by a green crown on her head.

"That woman really likes green." Sara murmured to herself.

"Come on, Sivir, do you really think you can win?" the pale-skinned woman mocked.

"Cassiopeia, you tried to kill me, bitch!" Sivir snarled.

Sivir lunged forward as Cassiopeia deflected multiple strikes and then tried to stab but Sivir jumped back.

Sara watched the duel in morbid fascination, watching the two counter each other with ease.

Cassiopeia attacked and Sivir blocked, punching and kicking. As Cassiopeia struck, Sivir ducked and struck in a spin motion, which she also blocked.

Sivir did a back-flip to avoid an attack and struck at Cassiopeia's feet, but she backed to avoid that too.

Sara clenched her teeth. She needed to help Sivir. Something was gnawing at her inside, urging her to help the Shuriman woman.

Her mind made, Sara leapt up and charged towards the two women, landing on the hard earth in the temple.

Both turned to face her in surprise.

"Sara Lance," Cassiopeia smirked. "I've heard tales about you in Noxus."

"Of course you're Noxian." Sara groaned. It made sense now.

Cassiopeia swung but Sara barely avoided it. Sivir landed a kick on her back, making her stagger forward.

Cassiopeia recovered quickly and struck again. Sara swerved to avoid and used her arms to block.

"YEAO!" Sara yelped as she felt the sting of her arms being sliced.

"I was expecting a better fight." Cassiopeia mocked.

Sara glared at the Noxian woman and kicked. Her exhaustion was showing, so her attacks were slower.

Cassiopeia managed to punch Sara and then slam her head against a pillar, making her fall down in pain.

As Sivir was about to attack, Cassiopeia attacked and stabbed Sivir in the heart. The pain cut the sound off her throat.

"Aw fuck." Sara murmured, struggling to get up. Sivir collapsed to the ground, blood pouring out of the open wound and soaking the sands below.

Cassiopeia smirked and turned to walk through the temple. Golden statues of animal headed beasts lined either side, as tall as walls.

As Cassiopeia touched the door, she froze. A statue of a snake moved up and sunk its fangs into her neck.

She let out a cry of pain and staggered back. The entire temple shook violently and some dust poured from the ceiling.

The door rumbled and began slowly creaking open.

"This is no temple…it's a tomb." Sara said in realization.

Cassiopeia writhed in pain on the ground, her muscles and bones slowly beginning to transform.

"What is happening?" Sara wondered, slowly looking around. Sivir was bleeding out on the ground, her blood staining the ground.

Sara made to help her, but was interrupted by the doors shaking violently.

It opened and a blob of arcane magic exited. It was blue, with several stone blocks chained to it, though they looked like they weren't holding the blue being. Long claws extended from where hands would be.

It radiated an insane amount of power, an unseen force that pinned Sara to the ground.

It looked around briefly before flying out of the temple, shattering stone columns along the way.

Then the tomb entrance completely exploded and huge fragments of rock, stone and sand blasted out. She scrambled back as the dust hit her.

Another monstrous being emerged from it, roaring loudly. Sara's eyes widened in shock and surprise on seeing it.

It was a creature that resembled a giant crocodile, except it was walking upright. Saliva dripped from its enormous fangs. It scaled human like legs, thick and muscular. It had a crocodile head and human eyes. Long claws extended from it's fingers and a huge battle ax was in it's left hand.

It wore pieces of leather armor, though that looked like it was completely unnecessary, given the beast's size. Its scales and bones shifted, cracking loudly.

The beast locked its eyes with Sara, and she recoiled slightly, seeing the pure insanity in its eyes. They were wide and open, never blinking.

But for a brief moment, the creature looked at Sara, and its eyes softened in fondness. Then it was gone.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the creature let out an earth-shattering roar and charged out of the tomb and into the open desert.

"Jesus, this world is getting stranger and stranger." Sara groaned to herself.

Then an unearthly howl swept through the area, making Sara cover her ears in pain.

The sand next to the dying Sivir began forming a miniature tornado, and something unseen lifted her, picking her up and moving out of the tomb.

"Wait!" Sara grunted, struggling to get to her feet.

The unseen force ignored her and moved out. The ground rumbled and began splitting apart, revealing an oasis of water, deep within the tomb.

Sivir was laid inside the water, and she slowly gasped, the life returning to her.

Sara sighed in relief, glad she wasn't going to die now. But then something unexpected happened.

A golden light flooded the underground area and Sara covered her eyes.

The walls shook, threatening to fall down at any moment.

The unseen being started levitating, the golden light covering it. It flew high into the air, smashing the ceiling. Sara turned to run outside into the middle of the desert.

The sun beat upon the desert landscape, and Sara watched as the being flew sky-high.

"What the…" she trailed off.

The Sun glowed brightly, as the being absorbed its power. Its spiritual form shifted as golden armor began forming over its body.

The whole land shook and Sara winced, struggling to not fall down from the shear force.

The being began transforming and shifting before the whole sky exploded. Sara was thrown backwards again from the blast. Finally, the light settled and the being floated down to the ground in front of Sara.

It was a being around 12 feet tall garbed in golden armor. Blue eyes shone behind a golden helmet.

The being had bird shaped legs, with the knees behind instead of in front like a normal person. A massive staff was in its hand, and it just radiated pure godliness.

"What…what are you?" Sara asked in shock.

The being was silent for a moment before it spoke, its voice rumbling.

"I am Omah Azir. The Emperor of the Sands."

And the first chapter of the Shurima arc is done.

So now 3 new champions have appeared, two of which will play huge roles later on.

The first is Azir aka The Emperor of the Sands.

The second is Cassiopeia aka The Serpent's Embrace.

And the third is Sivir aka The Battle Mistress.

Now Azir is a world building champion. If you like Shurima, then you need to read Azir's lore. It's just really good.

The same with the Darkin. They are interesting, but their stories are told in both Azir's and Nasus' lores.

And God knows I'm not putting Nasus as an essential read. He's a really interesting champion, but he's hardly an essential read.

Sivir is pretty good. A solid B tier, which means good. She can be better though, if they actually do something with her.

Cassiopeia is below average though. She's a snake woman. The end. Oh and don't worry, she will appear again in a few chapters.

Next two chapters will involve a lot of conversations and interactions.

Hope everyone enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.