Chapter 3: The Whirling Pathways

Katarina finally found her half brother in his room, sharpening his trusty wrist-blade. "Talon," she said aloud. "We have a new mission, top secret at that." The hooded assassin didn't seem to mind her and kept sharpening his blade. "Talon? Did you-", "I heard you Kat," he growled softly. The redhead scoffed and leaned up on the wall adjacent to him.

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

"None of your damn business," he retorted.

"Well it seems to have pissed you off so tell me what the hell happened."

"Just shut up and go away will you? I need to finish fixing my blade."

His responses infuriated Katarina but he didn't seem to care. Just as he had finished, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "That's what happens when you fail Kat, I don't accept failure no mater the odds," Talon murmured beneath his breath.

The redheaded assassin growled in a fit of rage and threw one of her daggers at a wooden target. She repeated this feat multiple times, each dagger sinking deeper and deeper into the target. As the assassin was about to throw her final dagger, a soft hand clasped itself onto her shoulder. Startled, she whisked around about to carve the dagger into the person's neck before she stopped her hand.

"Swain," she stuttered. "I didn't know it was you." The elderly man simply waved his hand but kept his raven-like eyes fixated on her blade. "All is fine Katarina. I came here to inform you about something... quite disturbing," the Tactician said in a soft voice. Sheathing her blade, she shrugged at him and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sure I've heard worse but, go ahead."

The redhead studied the old man as he took a seat. Wait he was a general too... and the Grand one at that, she thought to herself. Swain had seated himself in a chair that was near the door of the training room. "I am here to inform you that the mission that was bestowed among you and Darius has been postponed." Giving a confused look she cocked her head slightly. "That's not disturbing in the slight-" her reply was cut short by his hand raising. "That's only half of what I was going to say," he started. "What is disturbing is that I was approached by the Shadow Isle's Chain Warden."

A small shiver had found itself tingling down her spine. The assassin had fought Thresh, The Chain Warden before on the Rift. Just the mentioning of his name brought fear to many of the champions; even to Jarvan and Garen who were supposed to be as stoic as the statues in Demacia. After taking in the information she nodded her head for him to continue.

"He approached me bearing news regarding the new champion," Swain finished. "What about him?" she asked. Swain's general disinterested look turned into one of seriousness and held a slight hint of fear. "The Warden said that whoever the new champion was, they hold incredible powers that are heavily influenced by the Shadow Isles." Again she shot the Tactician a confused look. "That's not really a bad thing is it? I mean the Isles have very few champions to begin with; and it could result in another ally."

The Grand General shook his head wearily. "That may be true but the Warden told me this with extreme fear. And if a resident of the Shadow Isles is afraid, then every nation should be fearful too." Katarina's eyebrows shot up and stared at her superior. "It scared that guy? The Chain Warden of the Shadow Isles? Damn maybe I should have slit his throat," she pondered. Perhaps she should have to make sure things didn't go hell but at the same time she loved the fact that someone new and challenging had appeared.

A small sigh was heard from the Tactician. He began to rise from out of his seat and perched himself up on his cane. "I can tell you're eager to face this possible threat but I implore you to not do so. Given how he is new to this realm he might not know much about it. So I am tasking you, General Darius, his brother the Executioner, and Talon to try and... be friendly towards him." He shuddered when he thought of the word 'friendly'. Nothing disgusted Swain more than weakness, and telling his most vicious killers to be friendly to the newcomer disgusted him even more. He quickly cast aside his emotions, as they could be taken as weakness, and weakness was not tolerated in Noxus.

With a small bow, Katarina quickly exited the room to find Darius and his brother.

The room had fallen into silence from Jarvan's outburst. Axel could tell that he had angered the Prince but he knew also that it wasn't his fault. Shyvana's hand had found itself resting on his shoulder. All the tension residing in his shoulders seemed to melt instantly. A smirk came from Axel's mouth when he saw the Prince and Half-Dragon stare at each other. "So maybe it is true," he whispered.

Shyvana had seemed to hear him and let a small puff of smoke loose from her nostrils. He quickly jumped back and landed into Garen's chest. "Don't mind her. She has a short temper sometimes," Garen said comfortingly. Axel nodded and sat down at the edge of the bed. "So tell us new one, what is your name?" Lux questioned. Axel's eyes looked up at her and opened his mouth but no words came out. I can't tell them my real name. I don't trust them enough yet to tell them.

"My name is Elias, Elias Slade," he finally said. The group gave a collective nod and Jarvan once again clasped his shoulder firmly. "Demacia welcomes you Elias. As an ally, and as a friend." Elias nodded and smiled slightly at them. "Now I know this is rushing things but we must know: what sorts of powers do you have?" Garen asked him.

Elias froze. He remembered that he wasn't home, where magic and short-tempered half-dragons didn't exist. The Demacian group's eyes seemed to shine with excitement; Shyvana's probably were literally shining. After a pause, Elias sat up and walked towards the window, peering over the city. "I honestly don't know what sorts of powers I have. Hell in my world magic doesn't even exist," he told them. Jarvan and Garen had a puzzled look on their faces while Shyvana and Lux stared at him curiously.

The room fell into an awkward silence. "Well I'm sure the Head Summoner would be able to help with that," Lux perked up. Elias stared at her with his amber colored eyes. "Wait Revilash?" he asked the blonde. She gave an excited nod and lifted him up off of the bed. "Yep, but we can't have you meet him in those clothes," the blonde pointed out.

Looking down at my clothes I see that my school uniform was burnt at the collar and the sleeves were ripped off. "I guess that would be good but..." Jarvan rested his hand atop of Elias's shoulder. "All is fine Elias, I will get the finest tailors in all of Demacia to make attire worthy of you," the Prince says with a grand smile on his face. The thought of being in the presence of royalty enthralled Elias, but having said royalty do favors for him? It seemed like a dream. I wish this was a dream though...

A few hours later...

After the tailors had left, Elias stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was now dressed in his attire that seemed to suit him well. A sleek black hoodie with lines of red running down the sleeves, accompanied with a simple pair of black jeans with two silver X's running down both sides, and a pair of black and purple shoes. "Looks good enough, not as terrifying as Jarvan's armor but it fits extremely well," Elias says to himself. Just as he was finished brushing his slick black hair back he walked outside of the room.

"Well? How do I look?" he says while spinning around. A collective clap comes from the Demacian group. "You look a bit more Noxian than Demacian, but it seems to fit you well," Garen tells him. Elias smiles a bit but slowly backs up when Shyvana walks up to him. "Hmm..." she mumbles. "You are right Garen, he seems to look Noxian but his heart says otherwise."

A huff of relief comes from Elias's mouth and he walks towards Jarvan. "Thank you Prince for the clothing," he says with a bow. A hearty laugh comes from Jarvan's mouth and shakes his head. "It is my pleasure friend. I just hope you can be placed on Demacia's roster for champions." The teen nods and looks at all of them. "Well? Shall we be off to the Institute?" Lux asks the group. A loud cheer comes from them all and they set off towards the League of Legends.