AN: Writing, particularly this story, always takes a while. While my storytelling skills are on par with the illiterate, I try to make sure that every tiny detail is as accurate as possible. The locations; the limits of each character; their personalities, with a little of my own personal interpretation, is completely canon.
For example, Shon-Xan, the Immortal Bastion, Basillich, the Lhradi Forests, they are all actual places in Valoran.
Before I even start writing a chapter, I research all (literally all) of the lore with regards to the setting, pace and anything/anyone I might introduce. That takes a lot of time, however, everything pays off. The framework of the League of Legends universe remains completely the same, but I get to add my flair to things.
On a more crass note, I might do a lemon for this story so stay tuned lmao.
III.
Katarina's heart raced. Panic set in as she stood face-to-face with the enigmatic fox woman once again.
Ahri simply smiled. "It's nice to see you again, Kitty." Having encountered one another many times through the years at the Rift, it was rare for the assassin to display this level of despair.
"Why?... " Katarina asked through gritted teeth. "Why did you kill them?"
Arriving at Ionia brought Katarina's world spiralling down after what seemed to be a largely uneventful journey. Blue flames roared quietly over the tranquil homestead and any sentiment of hope burned away like the wooden frame of the house.
In between Ahri and herself laid the murdered bodies of the Kaires. A mother, father, and 2 children— a brother and a sister— were positioned motionlessly in a heap.
"I have my reasons Katarina, but I'll stick to the old Ionian adage…" Ahri chuckled. "There is no such thing as an innocent Noxian."
Ahri's eyes widened as Katarina's fist suddenly collided with her face and she was sent skidding across the field. Her body barreled through the wooden picket fence before it came to a rolling standstill.
"They were just kids, Ahri…" Katarina breathed as the sun brought a shadow over her eyes. Her head finally lifted and her emerald green eyes burned with anger as they set upon the fox. "At least Noxians understand honour."
"Little Kitty wants to play again?" Ahri smirked as got to her feet. Her infamous blue orb wisped into her right hand and her own gold coloured eyes met Katarina's. "That didn't work out too well for you last time, did it?"
Katarina remained unwavered, however. This time, she was prepared.
She reached into her bag and retrieved a couple of odd-looking paper balls. Ahri's eyebrows rose and she tilted her head in curiosity. Smoke began to blanket the battlefield as Katarina crushed them in her hands and soon neither woman could see the immediate area around them...
Except Katarina was an extremely skilled assassin, even without the magical advantages of her opponent. Years of training and experience heightened her senses to the peak of human perfection. She knew exactly where Ahri was and what tactics were most effective to use in this scenario.
The battlefield was her's now.
"This time it's the cat that hunts the fox…" Katarina called out as her signature daggers were drawn. "I will avenge them, Ahri."
Ahri's giggle chimed through the heavy smoke. "Fair enough. Indulge me…"
Just before Katarina could launch herself forward however, a cold, clammy hand suddenly took hold of her shoulder and chilled her all the way down to her soul.
"I'm bleeding! I'm bleeeeeeding!"
Talon's only response was to kick the shackled assailant once again who responded with an audible "oof."
"Enough of your games, clown. Tell me everything or I'll have you carved up and your remains left to the Drake-Hounds."
Shaco threw Talon a wicked smirk as his entire body disappeared, leaving a string of empty metal chains on the stone ground. Talon simply stood still unfazed. After a few seconds, the clown materialized behind Talon with his shivs high above his head.
"Time to die!" he laughed, only to fall to the ground suddenly and spasm in pain.
"My arm-blade is enchanted with the same properties as the Hexdrinker. Any wound I inflict pours its energy into its victim and disrupts all magic use." Talon said calmly. "And I left plenty of punctures."
Shaco simply continued his maniacal laugh as Talon looked over to his sister. "He's not talking."
Cassiopeia smiled in response as she slithered closer to the prone form of the Demon Jester, who's eyes turned to the serpentine sorceress. "Don't worry, I'll make him talk…"
"That won't be necessary, Lady Du Couteau," came a deep voice. Cassiopeia's smile grew.
"Good morning, Grand General. I don't suppose you can get anything out of our very eccentric intruder?"
However, it was Shaco's turn to grin wildly as crimson-coloured chains of lightning shackled Cassiopeia and Talon where they stood.
"My apologies Cassiopeia, but I'd prefer that you all stay out of this," Swain announced calmly.
"What is the meaning of this?!" growled Talon. "The Du Couteau household will not stand for this injustice!"
"The Du Couteau household will no longer be standing at all," Swain responded as the maniacal jester returned to his feet. Talon and Cassiopeia just now noticed the countless jack-in-the-boxes littered around the manor grounds.
"His clones must have set them up while we fought!"
Talon recalled the strange battle with the clown through gritted teeth. After parrying Shaco's ambushing strike, Talon counterattacked with a diagonal slash which generated a howl of pain from his opponent. The Shaco clones all seemed to disappear as a result, but oddly Talon felt their presence linger through the rest of their fight.
"They didn't vanish at all! They just went invisible! His main body was the distraction all along and we fell for it!"
"Now Shaco, if you'd please…" Swain turned his back as the Jester began his demonic incantation.
Time seemed to slow down around them all.
Swain's expression remained stoic.
Cassiopeia and Talon left their mouths wide open in utter shock.
Shaco's maniacal laughter echoed across the city in broad daylight as his spell was finished.
Any Noxian citizen or passerby at the moment curiously glancing their eyes towards the top of the Immortal Bastion witnessed the magnificent Du Couteau manor suddenly burst into flames.
"It's quite the entourage you've brought, Kitty cat," Ahri said a matter of factly as grey coloured bodies were sent flying from her concussive blast of magic. "I didn't know you had such powerful summoning magic in your repertoire."
"Something's wrong," Katarina said as she as another grey appendage took hold of her. "Ahri! Clear the smoke!"
Ahri, sensing the panic from her Noxian counterpart, took action. She spun in a circle, and with a mighty sweep from her 9 tails, completely cleared the battlefield of the fog. The scene before the two women left even herself perplexed.
Zombies.
There was no other way to describe the decaying bodies with white, empty eyes and dried, elongated arms reaching out towards them. Dozens of zombies had managed to make their way onto Ionia.
"So the Shadow Isles are in this game as well, hm?"
A creeping grey mist began approaching from the water and began swallowing up everything in its path as it inched closer to the pair.
"Quick. Into the forest," Ahri called out as she dropped a small blue sphere of magic. When she noticed Katarina had yet to move, she suddenly took her by the hand. "Hurry."
Katarina suppressed a slight blush as the duo sprinted deeper inland.
"Where are we going?"
"The Lhradi Forests," Ahri replied as her miniature orb detonated, emitting a sweeping flash of bright blue light in the explosion. "My den is there. We'll be safe."
The two women continued to dash through the trees in silence.
"The souls of those who are pure, go to heaven.. the others belong to me…"
The caretaker of the dead merely lowered his arm as the dust settled from explosion. His desolate eyes scanned across the empty battlefield, taking note of the devastated land. With a heavy sigh, he sunk his cursed shovel into the ground.
"Rise, my legions!"
The dismembered bodies scattered from Ahri's explosive blast were once again pieced together as an ominous wind drifted across the deserted homestead.
"The world shall tremble before the might of the Shadow Isles and the power of Yorick Mori!"
A/N: Good girls go to heaven, but bad girls know where be we.
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