A/N: Hey!

Long time...cuz...real life and... stuff...

Thanks to Nina-Chan202 for helping me get back into this.

I had some half-written chapters from uh...2016... that I *cough* couldn't really remember where I was going with. Also, Rito made Va(A)rus a darkin, made him a composite of two gay men and a...bow? (idk what he is supposed to be rn). So, yeah... I hit a major roadblock... until Nina said that she'd be down with reading a non-canon, pre-lore-retcon fanfic and that's how I came back (sort of.. my RL stuff is still not completely sorted; I may or may not be able to continue ._.). I had to read through what I had written (both published chapters and other drafts) to remember things. It wasn't entirely a fruitful exercise.

Anyway, this is one half of what I had written (with some modifications) and I'm not entirely done with the whole 'chapter' so this is half of it.

It may come off as a little lacking in focus and ramble-y, but this is best I can do right now. I want to start publishing again to see if I can gain some steam.

Thanks again to Nina and thanks to anyone else who decides to read after the...uh...hiatus.

The hill upon which the temple of Pallas lay was not very high, nor did it make for a steep climb. Aside from the thick forest and the presence of a few wild animals, there was little that could have been thought of as inconvenient by the people that once populated Kunou village; save the temple itself.

Right from birth, the children of Kunou village were taught to avoid the temple and the hill it was on for their own safety. All manner of deterrent tales did the rounds from monsters to demons to curses, and despite the curious nature of children most avoided the hill and temple for even the adventurous ones could not help but sense a sinister aura around the temple. For centuries, the objective of keeping the corruption contained had been met successfully.

While most of the credit of keeping the villagers away from the hill went to the priesthood and elders, it was not all their doing. A small group of warriors from the village contributed significantly to ensure that Pallas did not come in contact with anyone. This group of warriors were assigned as guards to the priests that visited the temple and to the temple itself, the latter being given the title of Warden.

Varus too was unaware of the importance of the temple guards until he was chosen to become one; a job that he at first had thought not up to someone of his caliber, until he was introduced to the more obscure duties of the guards. A whole new world of secrets and dangers had been laid open before him and he had soon come to understand why the elders had chosen him to become a guard to the temple.

Ever since being inducted into their ranks, Varus saw that someone of his inclinations was ideally suited to be Warden to the temple and he geared all his efforts to rise to a position so worthy of his talents. His focus shifted from becoming a better soldier to a better protector of his people. He read voraciously of the temple's history and of the means to deal with Pallas in every eventuality that the Elders and priests had thought possible. He had prepared himself for the absolute worst, or, such was his impression until the Noxian Invasion ravaged his home.

Every contingency, every danger, every problem that Pallas could pose was always assumed to be a result of ignorant dabbling by anyone but the villagers of Kunou. Every solution always assumed that at least someone, either among the priesthood or the temple guard, would always be available to remedy the situation. Never once did it occur to anyone including Varus that a member meant to guard the temple and prevent Pallas from ever leaving its prison would offer to let the corruption infect them. Even further from his imagination was the thought that he himself would ask the corruption to lend him its unholy power. And it was only after the fact that Varus realized how woefully under-prepared he was to deal with Pallas. All those years of learning and training to protect everyone from the dangers Pallas posed meant next to nothing when Varus learned firsthand what it meant to both be affected with the corruption and have no one to assist him. However, it was not all hopeless.

Pallas, much as the temple guards and the Elders had known, was a sentient entity. It was alive, in a manner of speaking, although its true nature was quite possibly indeterminable. None of the writings in the temple ever delved into the matter of Pallas' composition, even though the Elders constantly made attempts to study it. For anyone else, however, Pallas was deemed forever unknowable except through direct contact, which was expressly forbidden.

When Varus finally merged with Pallas he realized, much to his amazement and perplexity, that having Pallas inside him was so alien as to not even be comparable to fairy tales with devils or demonic possessions. He shared his mind and body with another being, one he only felt through pain.

The first month since taking in Pallas, Varus spent convulsing as the corruption covered his hands and legs. It felt as if his skin was being chewed through by the tar-like black ooze that was assumed to be Pallas' form. When the pain subsided and he was finally able to control his body again, he could see piles of little bones around him with flies abuzz over them. It soon became clear that those creatures – rats, lizards and bats – had been Varus' food although he could not recall ever catching them, let alone eating them. He was disgusted, appalled. More importantly though, he was unnerverd to even think that he could have moved, especially that he could have moved without conscious awareness of having done so. He wondered if it had been Pallas that had controlled his body and it brought him no relief to think that the corruption could act on its own. Still, there was little he could do about Pallas, now that it had come to be a part of him.

As the days passed, Varus had started to sense the entity inside him as something separate even though they were bound. He could sense that Pallas wanted to be acknowledged as a conscious being. While initially suspicious of the entity's motivations, Varus attempted to resist its attempts to forge a bond with him though Varus realized soon after that it was inevitable. He could not fight something that permeated his very self. Everything that was his, was also its.

Gradually, Pallas proceeded to engage with Varus' human half in ways that Varus found somewhat comprehensible. Varus could feel as Pallas watched him and studied him through his own eyes. Things habitual to Varus the man felt strange to the entity inside him and the novelty of the mundane fascinated it, so much so that Varus resonated with Pallas' intrigue through their connection. It was as if Pallas wanted to be friends with him.

A/N: This is not really necessary but I decided to add in some context.

IMO, Pallas is what makes pre-retcon Varus interesting. His story is otherwise very tried and trope-y. Varus is pretty much a la-Batman or even two-face depending on how he is viewed. So, the thing that gave Varus' character the potential to be special (I wouldn't call it 'unique') was Pallas and exploring Pallas is what adds depth to Varus.

...and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to explore how Varus changed as a result of having merged with Pallas.

This section is ramble-y because I'm trying to explore the direction in which I want this to go. While there are hints in the previous chapters about where this is headed I still wanted to actually flesh it out some more.

I hope you guys think as I do in that Pallas deserves to be explored as a concept and also as a character. Please leave me your thoughts and comments.

I appreciate all the love and feedback and as always, thanks for your time!