Yone nodded at me to show recognition as we drew near.

"I'll leave him with you now." Yone said to Ahri as he pointed towards the Noxian on the ground, before turning towards the clearing. It appeared Yasuo and Irelia were having some type of fight down below. Irelia's blades were aggressively pointing at Yasuo, who appeared to not make a single attempt to defend himself. "It seems I have to break up a fight for my brother. No doubt he's being confronted once again for the murder of Elder Souma."

I was about to ask who Elder Souma was, before I realized that must have been the name of Yasuo's murdered elder. Yone flashed me a wink, before running towards the two Ionians.

We strolled over to the Noxian, who Yone had strapped to the ground.

"By the spirits." Ahri exclaimed as we drew nearer. She glanced at me with a piercing gaze, and as if examining my soul. "Wentao, did you do this all on your own?"

"Ya." I nodded as I observed the Noxian. He had been tied up, a gag placed into his mouth, and his armor had been stripped onto the ground by yone. "Well I incapacitated him but Yone tied him up."

Ahri nodded. "You're braver than I thought darling. It's not easy to take on a Noxian warrior. I'm proud of you, though in fact I must admit I am surprised you succeeded at all."

"Well, I guess I still had some tricks up my sleeve. I still couldn't bring myself to land the killing blow though." I replied, drawing my blade and observing its sharpened edges.

Ahri sighed. Her breath smelled of roses, with a tinge of something soft, something sweet. "That's nothing to be ashamed of, little fox. That is your humanity, or sympathy. It is quite an interesting thing. When I was younger, I had the mind of a pure predator. I would devour the essence of men without remorse, and would lose myself in their memories. Yet, over the centuries, I regretted my actions more and more with every kill. It's why I spared you when we first met in fact, along with many others."

"How many people did you kill?" I asked out of curiosity, trying not to sound frightened of the number I was about to hear.

"Hundreds of thousands, perhaps." Ahri sighed sadly, and her ears dropped lower. Her eyes stared tiredly towards the ground, and I thought I spotted tears glistening in her eyes. "Over the years, I've tried to control my hunger. I found if I tried hard enough, I am able to only partially consume souls so that the experience isn't fatal. But as hard as I try, it's…difficult. Yet staying closer to you has somehow sedated my hunger, at least for the time being. I can maintain enough control over myself to not take the life of innocent people. I wonder if this means the time has come to create my own memories instead of living in the ones of others. And for that, I must thank you."

Ahri put one of her tails over my shoulder, and I nuzzled it affectionately. I had no clue how to respond to Ahri's gratitude, so instead I just kept silent.

"Well," Ahri said at last, taking her tails off me and kneeling in front of the Noxian. "Time to focus on the task at hand. I am going to interrogate our friend here on the Noxians."

"Couldn't you collect the memories of Noxians when you absorbed all their essence?" I wondered.

"Well, I can acquire unclear snippets of memory but it's going to be much more precise when it's a bit more, ah, personal." Ahri explained. "I mainly needed life essence to boost my energy."

"Ahri, are you going to torture him?" I asked, suddenly uneasy.

Ahri shook her head, keeping her golden eyes on the Noxian. "Of course not Wentao. I am going to charm him. It's much more efficient and humane. We're not Noxians."

"Ah, alright." I nodded. In fact, I was quite interested in what lay in the mind of a Noxian. Ahri seemed to have read my mind.

"If you would like, I can take you through his memories." Ahri looked back at me, and smiled. Her calm demeanor contrasted that of the battlefield behind her. "At this point, I am quite familiar with your soul. I can, in a sense, take it on a trip through another soul. You'll be able to experience everything that I see. All you need to do is hold my hand."

"Oh ya. Sure!" I nodded excitedly. Ahri reached out her right hand, and I took it on my own. I sat down, leg crossed, next to Ahri in the clearing. Ahri's hands were warm and welcoming to the touch.

Ahri started the process. And I watched as she stared directly into the Noxians eyes. Just for a moment, her sclera glowed bright pink in the afternoon sunlight. Ahri looked simply dazzling, and I felt myself starting to slack off as well. Her hair flowed in perfect harmony to the wind, and the streaks on her cheeks seemed to reach out to me. Yet, as I was not the target of the charm, I was still able to differentiate between reality and the effects of the spell. But the Noxian wasn't as lucky. His iris reflected the pink glow, before turning to a shade of light purple. His facial features relaxed, and his hands slacked as he observed the irresistible scene before him.

Suddenly, my mind felt as if it was ripped from my body. My consciousness spun into a swirl of blue as it rushed inside the mind of the Noxian. I felt a familiar presence next to me, and although I couldn't see her, I could tell it was Ahri. At first, it was all dark. Then, I saw images flash before my eyes as the mind of the Noxian was revealed to me.

Teralious, that was his name. Born in a kingdom of iron, where strength was all that was valued. Born in the slums, parents who never loved him. The vision zoomed back to reveal glimpses of Noxus. I saw walls of iron, towering stone gates, and in the middle, a giant steel fortress of unimaginable size. It was a pillar of metal, so tall it quite literally touched the clouds. Fires blazed in a large opening inside the fortress, revealing the back of a frightening gigantic man. The man turned, revealing dark purplish eyes that blazed with greed and fury. The vision zoomed out, and the gates of the fortress clang shut.

I witnessed flashes of Teralious's life. A much younger Teralious getting thrown around by a larger, mean looking boy. Small coins, all the money that he's ever had, splattered from his pockets as Teralious received a punch to the face. The scene changed to unclear images, yet they conveyed a single message without flaw. Anger, bloodlust, fury. Teralious grew up, brawling the boys at a training camp each day. Eventually, he started winning. At last, he received what would be his first medal of honor. An invitation to join the Noxian army.

For the first time, there was laughter, and joy as Teralious found friends, comrades. Together, they went on dangerous missions for the wealth of Noxus, conquering nearby lands. They waged war upon the heavily fortified lands of Demacia, and he fought with strength and valor. At last, he was met with approval from the people of Noxus. A dream came true.

Then one day, Noxus declared war on Ionia, supposingly for magic artifacts. Noxus needed him, and he would not fail his country. Ships sailed into the glorious horizon, and he adjusted his axe as he prepared the triumph of battle. Yet not all was according to plan. The people of Ionia had fought back, much harder than expected. He had shed tears as his allies died beside him. But as he fought with his remaining squad, green blobs of death had rained from the morning skies. It was a weapon of Noxus. He had hid under a nearby rock as chemicals rained down upon them, seering the flesh of all who stood in its wake. He had witnessed his best friend vaporized by the weapons of his own country. Had watched as his squad leader, a white haired girl armed with a large runic sword, attempted to shield some stray soldiers with a burst of her sword's energy to no avail.

Part of him wanted to blame Noxus. To blame the grand general. But no, Noxus was his home. It was the Ionian's fault. He hated the Ionians. They shall pay for what they've done.

The vision swirled, before spitting my soul outwards towards my physical body. I snapped back to reality. Ahri exhaled deeply as her spell ended, and Teralious slumped, losing consciousness once again. I examined my surroundings, and realized the vision must have taken no time at all. Yone had finally broken up the fight between Yasuo and Irelia, and were now walking in our direction.

I glanced back at Ahri, and noticed she wore a different expression, sympathy. She was no longer upset with Teralious, and to be honest, neither was I. I knew what it was like to have nothing, to be the lowest among peers, to be shoved around, and the feeling of accomplishing a goal only to have it shattered in my face. Gently, she summoned her orb of deception with her right hand, before placing her right hand onto the Noxian's armored shoulders. As I watched, the orb glowed bright green as Ahri channeled healing energy through her orb, and the burn marks on Teralious's chests slowly faded. The man's breathing steadied, and he slumbered into a deep sleep.

"He's going to be alright." Ahri whispered, before standing up to her full height. I followed suit. Ahri frowned. "It's strange though."

"Ya." I replied angrily. "I didn't realize that Noxus bombed their own troops."

"Well, yes. That too." Ahri said as she wrapped one of her tails around me. "But I've always thought the Noxians were after the conquest of land when they invaded Ionia. Yet according to our friend here, it seems their grand general is only after magical artifacts."

"Haven't you interrogated other Noxians before?" I wondered.

"No, in fact." Ahri shook her head sadly. "Noxians view capture as one of the highest forms of dishonor. Most would rather die than surrender. The few Noxians who might consider capture to death are unfortunately slain by their higher ups."

I shuddered, and nodded. The Noxian army did not sound like a group I wanted to join.

Irelia, Yasuo and Yone walked towards us, and Irelia wore a stormy expression on her face as she glanced at Ahri. Ahri sighed.

"Oh dear. It seems the time to explain myself has come." Ahri told me. "Stay here darling. I guess I'll have to make peace with Irelia."

Yasuo and Yone approached me as Ahri walked past them towards the Blade Dancer.

"Hello Wentao." Yasuo grinned. "Nice footwork back there."

"Thanks." I said, before telling the two brothers of my vision of Noxus.

"The old man." Yasuo growled. "I've heard of him. Boram Darkwill. You say he resides in a large tower of iron?"

"Large would be an understatement." I told him. "The tower quite literally is higher than the clouds. I've no idea how the Noxians built it."

"I know of the tower." Yone stated calmly. "I've heard of it in the Spirit Realm. The spirits call it the Immortal Bastion, built by the warlord Mordekaiser. The legends say he died atop a mountain of corpses, and his relentless spirit still resides in the bottom of the bastion to this day."

"Mordekaiser?" I asked, though it wasn't really a question. I remembered him as a champion from League of Legends, though I never paid attention to his lore. "I've heard of him."

"Well, it appears it's time for me to depart." Yone said. He raised his left hand, and his Azakana sword disappeared in a puff of red smoke. With his other hand, he sheathed his steel sword.

"So soon brother?" Yasuo stated. "Fair well."

With a final nod of his head, Yone melted into a shower of petals in the Ionian breeze.

I looked towards the other side of the clearing, where it appears Ahri and Irelia had finally made peace. The two girls walked towards us along with Master Yi, and at last our group was once again united, though this time with the addition of Irelia.

"I must offer my thanks for each of your timely arrival that saved my squadron from destruction." Irelia announced formally, before shaking each of our hands. "What are your following plans? I will attempt to assist you the best I can."

"We're going to Noxus." I piped up, and everyone looked at me in surprise. Ahri examined me thoroughly with a sharp glance, and nodded.

"Wentao is right." Ahri said. "A glance into the mind of a Noxian has revealed to me just how little we know about the Noxian's true intentions. I would assume the answer to our problems would lie in Noxus itself."

"The waters surrounding Ionia are heavily defended by the Noxian fleet." Yasuo injected. "I wouldn't think it possible to fight our way to Noxus while leaving Ionia defended at the same time. Moreover, our forces are overall much weaker outside of Ionia as many are dependent on the magic of the First Lands."

"If you guys are seriously considering going to Noxus," Irelia interrupted, before moaning in disgust. "I know a guy who can take us."

Ahri grinned cutely, her ears flickering in the wind. "What is it, Irelia? Why the sour face?"

"He's a lowly smuggler." Irelia growled. "I would have shut down his operation years ago if I wasn't so occupied with the Noxians. But he'll be able to get us to Noxus without any trouble."

Irelia surveyed us individually before continuing. "His name's Sett. We'll be in for a tough ride."