(Jarvan IV - PoV)
It is as a solemn group that we return to the capital.
Demacia. No longer can I look upon my city with pride. Even ignoring the stains now marring the streets, the scuffs on the outside, I now realize that the underneath, the inside, it is so much worse. How long...how long has the shine and splendor covered up rot within?
We pause just inside the gates. There is so much to do, but where to begin?
...
Father. He must be told.
I take the familiar path, companions plodding behind me.
My shoulders are slumped, steps heavier than ever.
Failure. It is not a feeling I am used to. To know you have failed, that your best was not enough, and that you still have so much more work to do...How has Father managed this?
Pushing open the doors to the throne room, he looks up at me, a tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes. Hope extinguished in an instant as he takes me in, without any words needing to be exchanged.
Oh father, but it gets so much worse. So very much worse...
I step forth and stand before him.
"Father..."
He surveys me wearily, before slumping. He knows. Knows that our hope is gone before I ever speak.
We will struggle onwards, do our best to ensure justice is brought forth, fix everything we can, but Demacia...the Demacia we fought for died long before we ever realized there was a problem. Under our very noses...
I cannot even bring myself to lift my head as I being to speak.
I failed. I failed, and Demacia is dead, Garen and the Noxians will see to that. But I will be damned if I go without a fight.
Not the Noxians, no. No, I swore justice. And I will deliver. My investigation will continue, but first...
I slam the heavy doors of the Council room open, causing several of those inside to jump.
All eyes are upon me as my booted feet tread heavily on the polished floors. I don't take my seat, striding instead to the middle of the room as Cithria and Shyvanna take their positions inside the doors.
"Councilors. The negotiation was a failure," I inform them bluntly.
Several idiots gasp in surprise, the more intelligent ones nod as expected.
"Noxus unveiled a great many surprises and accusations during the meeting, many of which I expect they will be spreading publicly as far and as wide as they can, considering how unfavorably they paint Demacia. I will be looking into them, as well as other matters that have come to my attention."
"I'm sorry Prince, I understand your interest in your, ah, investigation, but, are you saying you are going to continue it even while the Noxian army is invading the country?" One of the imbeciles asks.
"Yes." I don't elaborate.
"Is, ah, is that wise? I would think all the Champions would be needed on the field, especially with your former friend leading the charge against us?" another idiot speaks up.
I note the contempt with which he speaks of Garen. Even now Garen is worth hundreds of this...swine.
"The war is important, but there is no point driving the enemy away on a distant battlefield when there is sedition and plots at home. Some of the revelations made at the meeting are most concerning." I reply.
And at this point, with the state we are in? We will lose the war no matter what happens. I will at least do some good while I still can.
"I see." Another snake speaks. "You make a fair point, but what of your, ah, dragon-lady companion? Surely your investigations don't require two Champions? I say we take a vote t-"
I slam my spear into the floor, silencing the scum.
My voice remains quiet and calm, even as everything else promises death. "Enough. I have listened to this Council of liars and fools, for long enough. Every major decision you have made in recent days has led to naught but ruin and suffering for Demacia. No more. I am Prince. I am not here to debate. I am here to command."
I look at these...I don't even have words for them anymore. I look around the room and am disgusted. How could we let it get this bad...
Without Tiana here...is there a person in this room worthy of their seat? I doubt it.
"Something is wrong in Demacia. Dead wrong. The Marshals will fight the war. You will give them what they need, and stay out of their way, or be arrested. I and those under me will be continuing our investigations into various problems that have come to light. You will comply, or be arrested. In the meantime, you will do your best at what little jobs you have, while staying out of the way of everyone who does actual work, or again, you will be arrested, until someone has time to deal with your stupidity. If any of you attempt to resist arrest, I will personally hunt you down, and kill you. Any questions?"
The room remains silent, many of the Council staring at me in shock.
Turning around, I exit the room, my companions following behind.
We have work to do.
Our next stop is the prison.
I am hesitant to move against Gerald, not yet. The Mageseekers are a powerful and essential faction in Demacia, and I am still lacking so many answers. Answers I hope may lie here. Xin will keep an eye on him for now.
The guards are quick to clear our path, and we eventually meet Karn and Jane inside, two more soldiers I poached from the Vanguard.
"How goes it?" I ask them wearily.
Jane grimaces. "Really good or really bad, depending on how you look at it. There are a lot of leads...possibly too many. Far too many questionable cases..." she trails off.
"Even more considering the potential effects of that process you mentioned. They have used it on almost every one of the magical prisoners, and even a few non-mages..."
...I am not even surprised anymore. If I wasn't the Prince I might even...
But it doesn't matter. I have my role to play.
"Shyvanna. Arrest whoever has been authorizing it. And everyone around them just in case. Cithria, go speak to the Warden, let him know I would like to have a little chat with him, as soon as possible."
They leave to fulfill their tasks.
Everywhere I go I find more horror stories.
"The files, show me. I want to talk to a few of them myself."
Stepping forward I begin leafing through the files.
The prisons doctor, several of his assistants, and the magical wardens are all now enjoying their own cells. All members of the Mageseekers. Not saying good things for Gerald...
Shyvanna is continuing our conversation with the Warden and his upper staff, though I have high hopes there. He knows little of magic, and simply trusted the Mageseekers' expertise, like most Demacians. Cithria accompanies me to speak with a chosen prisoner, this, Sylas.
Quite the history. A mage and former Mageseeker himself, he was arrested and imprisoned after supposedly turning traitor and killing his mentor and several others, before going on the run. For no apparent reason. Consider me rather doubtful.
"Prisoner! You have visitors," the guard announces us gruffly, banging on the cell.
I wave a hand, dismissing him. He leaves with reluctance, glaring back at the cell as he goes.
"Visitors, hmm? And just who would be visiting me?" A harsh but surprisingly cultured voice speaks out from the darkened cell.
A tall black-haired man steps forth, heavy petricite shackles on his wrists.
"You..." he mutters, barely audible. I look into his eyes...eyes that shine with intelligence. Eyes of a man unbroken by his many years of captivity. Eyes that I fear hold just a hint of madness...
His dosage is low, but he has been on a minor variant of the process for a number of years...
The anger on his face is gone in a flash, so quickly it is almost as if it was imagined. "Ah, apologies for the poor accommodations and lack of refreshments. As you can see I am rather, detained," he speaks smoothly, with a charming smile. "So, what brings the Prince of Demacia to my humble abode?" he asks.
"Several things, great and small. For the moment, I am interested in the circumstances that led to your current," I gesture with my hand, "accommodations."
He laughs. "Hah. Sure. The Prince of Demacia himself comes all the way here, decades later to find out why random prisoner 1064 is locked away. I rather doubt that." He shakes his head, before huffing.
Focusing on me once more, he appears to reconsider. "Though I suppose, if you are listening anyway, you may as well get the full story." He leans up against the bars. "I was a good, proud, and proper Mageseeker. Bought all the party lines, hook and sinker. Hunted down every poor bastard like the good little bloodhound they trained me to be. But eventually even the good puppy I was noticed that they kept telling me to look the other way whenever I caught wind of a noble with magic."
He frowns deeply, his smile long gone. "They don't count, I was told. They are ok. Turns out it is only the poor that are bad. The unconnected, that deserve to get locked up." He shakes his head. "It was the crack in the foundations, the chink in the armor. I started having doubts, slowly. It all came to a head that day, out in the countryside. When I found that little girl hiding out in the middle of nowhere."
He breaths out heavily.
"She was nothing. No one. Just one more nobody, trying to survive in the world. She didn't deserve to be bound and shackled and treated like a monster. If nobles could be safe with magic, then so could she. But we were so close, right on top of her. I had just a few moments before the others arrived. I tried to help her hide, but when I touched her..."
He stares at his hand for a time, before shaking his head again.
"I don't know what it was. If it is some natural ability of mine or something the girl did. But when I touched her, her magic surged through me, and I lost control completely. A massive mana surge. I unleashed multiple bursts which killed my entire team, including my mentor. I knew I was fucked then. I ran but, well. You can see how that turned out," he finished with a sardonic smile, shaking his shackles at us.
Relaxing and taking a step back into his cell he continues. "So, what's the verdict, oh prince? Another mad mage to be put down? While I'm certainly not eager for the block, I will admit a change of scenery would be nice..."
His story certainly makes a lot more sense than the Mageseekers complete lack of details. I would like to order his release immediately but that hint of madness in his eyes...concerns me.
"There have been significant events since your incarceration. Some of which are just now coming to my attention. Tell me, the tattoo on your heart, do you know its significance?"
He blinks at me. "This ol' thing? Part of a Nullification Process I believe, to keep my magic contained. Keep me contained. " He can't quite hide the vitriol in his last words. "What of it?"
"It has side effects. Significant side effects. Effects that were well known, and ignored, with the Mageseekers widely employing the process despite...or even because of them."
...
Sylas remains silent, waiting for me to continue.
"Mental degradation. Aggression. Insanity. The effects can vary wildly, depending on the individual and the dose, but are near-universal. You were on a relatively low dosage, but given the duration?"
...
He doesn't blink, I can see him process my words..and the implications.
"How many?" he asks.
Not for himself, but for others. For every mage in Demacia.
"Almost every mage they can get their hands on. Seemingly everyone that doesn't work for them directly. Possibly even them. Thousands at least."
...
"My investigation started in the Academy. They haven't had a mage graduate in two years. Every one of them has gone insane and had to be put down. Now we know why." It is my turn to shake my head. "They have been doing it intentionally. Breaking our own people's minds, so they have an excuse to kill them."
...
"Heh. Heh. HehhehhehhahahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAHAHAAAAHAAAAAAAA!"
Sylas dissolves into laughter. Just, laughter. No longer paying any attention to us, or anything else.
Not the best sign for his sanity but, one I can understand. People often react to extreme stress...oddly.
Stepping away from the cell, I turn to Cithria. "Check up on him later, once he calms down. Try to see how stable he is, if he can be salvaged. What we can do for him. I hate to keep a good man locked up, but if he truly is mad..."
"I understand sir," she assures me.
We take our leave, the laughter echoing through the hallways behind us.