Chapter 6: Dead Man Walking
The sound of a body hitting the ground had never seemed so terrifying before. Elias's thoughts were terrifying him as well. The second the blade had made its way into his chest the poor soul became tormented by the thoughts of death. Is there an afterlife? Why did this happen to him? Would he die here alone in a world he only thought was fantasy? All of these questions consumed him with fear and doubt. "Are you alright?" a small gentle voice says. In the darkness of his psyche, a bright warm hand reached itself out and held onto Elias's hand.
Garen had to keep Lux from sobbing over Elias's body. Several onlookers had arrived at the scene when Lux's shrill scream was heard. Most of the people who arrived were supports who quickly began trying to heal Elias and the unconcious Jarvan. To no avail however, the supports couldn't heal Elias's body for it had gone cold and was devoid of all life; nothing seemed to heal him at all. "I-if I had only trapped the second axe he would still be..." the blonde sobbed. Garen held her tightly to him and she let out her anguish. Even though the newcomer had only been with the Demacian's for a short while, it seemed like he had been their ally for decades. Shyvana was having her own troubles of guarding and unconscious Jarvan from any further attacks that might happen, but the two Noxian's from earlier were called into a match for the League.
Riven was propped against a small rock while Teemo used his basic first aid knowledge to bind her broken ankle in a splint while Soraka applied a specialized paste to it to stop the pain. The Exile gazed over at the person who saved her. He seemed to be as old and as strong willed as her, but to die at that age seemed to cruel, even by Noxian standards. All that was heard were the sobs of Lux mourning at the loss and the low growling of Shyvana protecting her Prince. The white haired Noxian felt bad for them. She felt as if it was her fault that he ended up dead, and it was consequentially. Riven's eyes started to cloud up with tears and broke into her own silent sob.
All of the sobbing quickly stopped when they heard a soft groan of pain. The sound came again but this time it sounded like it was a faint cry of help but there was no one around that could make such a sound. Looking down at Elias's body they see that one of his arms is trying to pull the blade from his chest. "Help... me," he quietly groaned. Garen quickly rushed over to his side and inspected the wound. "We can't take it out Elias. You've already lost too much blood," the soldier tells him. A tall man bearing sky blue eyes and dressed in armor covered in dazzling gems arrived next to the Demacian. "He is right dear child, you've lost too much blood and you shouldn't be moving," Taric says in his calming monotone voice.
The Gem Knight's voice soothed Elias's muscles and made all forms of resisting futile. The Judge's hand slowly moves away from Draven's axe that was still impaled in his chest. Soraka soon came to Elias's side and assisted Taric in removing the blade. "He's lost too much blood to even be alive," Soraka whispered to Taric. "I know what you mean. A normal human with no magical powers or a physique like Garen's shouldn't still be alive. This is a strange case indeed."Soraka started to chant a healing spell and Taric's gems started to glow a cerulean blue. Elias's wound started to close up slightly and blood began to pour back into his body. The Judge suddenly sat up breathing heavily with sweat running down his face. Startled, the healer duo jumped back at the Judge's sudden movement. What startled them more was that the blade that was embedded in his chest was now shriveling to dust. They looked at each other wearily as to what was going on but couldn't make any sense of what was happening.
"God my chest feels like I got hit with a giant axe," Elias mumbles to himself. He looks around to see shocked faces of the people surrounding him. "What? Did I say something I shouldn't have?" he asks the group. Taric looks over at Garen who looks as confused as everyone. "You... don't remember?" The Demacian asks to the Judge. Elias's face became devoid of color as he made a small "oh" face. "I was stabbed by a giant axe... wasn't I?" he asks Garen. He nods and keeps his gaze fixated on Elias. The Judge is still confused as to why everyone was staring at him. Lux however didn't seem to care and quickly rushed to hug him.
"We thought you were dead!" the blonde cries as she squeezes him tighter. Shocked at her sudden embrace he awkwardly wraps his arms around her. Tears of joy start to fall down the Lady of Luminosity's cheek as she hugs Elias even tighter. "Um Lux? Isn't there someone else you should be hugging instead?" the Judge coughs uncomfortably. She quickly turns around and goes to hug Riven. "I thought you were a goner too!" she cries again. Riven chuckles lightly and ruffles Lux's crop of blonde hair. "I'm fine now thanks to him," the Exile says while pointing to Elias. He smiles slightly at her before coughing up a bit of blood. Soraka moves to assist the Judge but he holds a hand up to stop her. "I'm fine. Just what's left of what was in my throat. Thank you for helping me, Soraka, Taric," he said nodding to each of them.
Garen kneels at Elias's side and lifts his arm over his neck to lift him up. "Thanks big guy," Elias laughs slightly. The Demacian lightly chuckles and carries him inside of the Institute. The rest of the champions soon followed after them.
Hours after the incident had past, Elias and the others were back to tip-top shape. Now that he was fully healed, the Judge was dressed back in his normal attire of a hoodie and jeans. He walked towards the balcony of his newly appointed room and stared into the vastness of the land. What am I doing here. I should be worried about getting back but... at the same time I want to stay here. His thoughts were interrupted by a small knock at the door. "Who is it?" he called. The door slowly creaked open and a woman with long blue hair floated in the room. In her hands was a golden etwahl which she held gingerly in her hands. "Oh hello Sona," he greets her with a smile.
She returns the greeting with her own smile which seemed to flood the room with a calming sensation. He walked over to her and sat on his bed, motioning her to sit next to him. "So what is it?" he asks her kindly. She holds up a finger before lying her etwahl onto her lap. Sona slowly began strumming a wondrous melody that filled Elias's ears. "Can you hear me Elias?", says a voice in his head. He looks over at Sona who nods at him, "Yes it is me speaking if that's what you're wondering." The Judge sighs in relief and leans back onto the bed.
"So what brings you to my room Sona?" She keeps on strumming her etwahl and turns towards him, "I am here to assist you with any remaining injuries you might have." He chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm fine Sona, you guys patched me up pretty good," he says cheerfully. The blue haired maven cocks her head slightly in concern and stares at him. "I wasn't talking physical wounds Elias. I was talking about the deep psychological wounds you have," she says in her calming tone. Elias chuckled nervously and lied back on the bed, propping his hands underneath his head. "I don't really want to talk about that Sona," he whispers. She frowned slightly and stopped playing her instrument.
"You can talk to me about what it is. I wont tell anyone I promise," she says almost hurt by his words. The two champions sat there in silence for a short while. Sona was about to exit the room before she heard him crying softly. "I'm scared Sona. I am so frightened by being here. I didn't think this world would actually exist, and I didn't think it would be this terrifying. I thought if I could pull off my 'tough guy' act then things would be ok for me. Obviously that's not the case." Tears were now falling from his face at an immense rate. The maven had never felt as bad for anyone or anything as much as him. The Judge of the Fallen, reduced to a boy who was sobbing and terrified of the world around him.
Elias's sobbing ceased after a while. He slowly sat up and wiped away his tears with his hoodie's sleeve. Sniffling he looked over at Sona who kept her warm smile across her face, "Thank you Sona... for not, you know, making fun of me for crying." The blue haired woman shook her head slightly and moved closer to him. The Judge looked at her with his puffy red eyes and smiled slightly at her. She smiled again at him before embracing him in a comforting hug. He had no reason to resist her and hugged her back gingerly. "It's alright to be afraid Elias. Everyone is deep down, even if they never show it, everyone is afraid of something," Sona speaks softly while stroking his hair.
The Judge backed off from the embrace and felt much better now. Sona looked at the clock and saw that it was a quarter past ten. "Ah I must be heading back now. If you ever need help, come find me at the Support quarters alright?" Elias nodded and stood up before bowing to her. "I cannot thank you enough Sona. Without you, I'd probably have kept that in longer than what I should have." She made what seemed to be a giggling face before standing, well floating up and doing a small maven left the room, leading to Elias to lie back down on the bed. Just as he had lied down another visitor walked in. "Hey uh, your name is Elias right?" the new visitor said.
He looked towards the door to see a woman with white hair and covered in slivers of armor standing in the doorway. "Oh Riven, didn't expect you to drop by. Come in, come in," Elias motioned her. She quickly entered the room and closed the door behind her. The Exile was fidgeting with her armor and had her sword hanging at her belt. "Something wrong?" he asks her while he sits up. Riven keeps on fidgeting before saying, "I need to stay at your place tonight." "Wait what? Why?" he asks her. The white haired woman's face began to redden and she started to fidget more. Sighing, Elias slid off the bed and propped himself up on the couch in the corner of the room.
"I wont ask why if it's bugging you that much. Take the bed and I'll just crash on the couch for tonight," he tells her. She tried to object to him sleeping on the couch and her on the bed but she thought best to not say anything else. Elias curled up into a ball on the couch and shut his eyes. Riven collapsed onto the bed and set her sword on the nightstand next to her and pulled the covers over herself. "Night Riv. Hope you sleep well." "Goodnight Elias. Don't try anything funny while I sleep," she shoots back at him. Elias chuckles and stretches before falling into a deep slumber.