AN.: It took forever to write this. This chapter was supposed to have the introduction to Taliyah, but it felt off to put it right after the Xerath meeting and then the whole thing just ran too long so in the end I threw my plan out the window, pushed the Taliyah confrontation to the next chapter and went with something different. Please enjoy. :)
Despite outward appearances, the meeting with Xerath left Azir shaken. How could it have not? To hear Xearth scream in the dark awoke his pity, even if he came to him with the firm determination to confront the traitor.
The idea to hide his identity until the last moment was a sudden one, but he didn't regret it in bit. He suspected that if he marched in with his heart on his sleeve and ready for confrontation, so to speak, he would not have noticed how deep Xerath's mental instability ran.
Azir was walking through the courtyard, deep in thought still, when he heard someone call out to him. The voice turned out to belong to the one and only Draven who disentangled himself from a huge group of fans and rushed to him with a broad grin.
"Azir, my man! Just the guy I needed." The overly familiar tone irked Azir, but the Noxian wound an arm around his own with a vice-like grip before he could escape the hold. "I was looking for you everywhere like you wouldn't believe! Could we have just a word? In private."
The last bit was tagged on like an afterthought in a much quieter tone. It made Azir curious enough that the ascended let himself be dragged out of the limelight to a secluded spot behind a few huge crates of building materials. From the look of the place, it was probably one of the spots the clerks sneaked off to smoke, well out of the way.
Draven took a hasty look around to make sure they were well out of earshot and not visible from the main buildings and immediately took a few steps back to remove himself from Azir's personal space.
"Sorry 'bout that. Can't fall out of character in front of my audience. Gotta keep up appearances and all." This was perhaps the first time he heard Draven use an indoor voice. He suspected that Draven was capable of setting aside the showmanship, being a de facto member of the Noxian high command, but it was a relief that the man spared him the tiresome theatrics, at least in private.
He wished he could smile. Serious for once and slouching slightly in the cold, Draven looked almost like a different person; it reminded him eerily of someone he once knew.
Someone he once was.
"It is no trouble. I understand perfectly."
"You do?" Draven seemed taken aback.
"Yes indeed." Azir hesitated just a moment before he decided to elaborate. After all, it all could be found in the history books if someone was good at reading between the lines. "I was the first member of the royal family for several generations who showed any talent in the arcane. As such the priests and the loyalist went to great lengths to present me as a chosen Mage King, favorite of the gods." He raised his arms and struck a pose before taking up a more relaxed stance once again. "It made dealing with the nobility significantly easier that they believed the gods themselves may smite them if they openly rebelled against me, thus I never bothered to shatter the illusion."
Draven listened with almost scary intensity. Definitely not something Azir would have expected from a man who played the role of the self-centered showman with such obvious enjoyment. The information seemed to be new to him and his interest appeared genuine, so Azir didn't particularly mind.
"Wow. That's… wow. Cool. So all the tricks with the sand…" he trailed off and made a gesture with his hand, trying to illustrate Azir's magic, still clearly intrigued.
"Ah. No. I am a necromancer. The sand is a novelty."
It was highly entertaining to watch Draven's expression go through a series of rapid changes that started somewhere around shock and, oddly enough, ended smack dab in the middle of a triumphant grin.
"Yes! Vanquisher of Plagues! I knew that had to mean something. Vladimir is going to go bananas when I tell him."
Now it was Azir's turn to be surprised. Lack of scrutiny over practicing necromancy was one thing – he knew it well that the art wasn't as frowned upon in Noxus as in most places – he could even understand that one might know of necromancy's more practical uses
He did not expect to hear it all from Draven.
"Have you read up on me?" he asked with mild suspicion.
"Of course I did. I check out every celebrity who joins up." Checking out possible competition then. That made marginally more sense. "It's not a secret, right?"
"Hardly. As you have pointed it out, Vanquisher of Plagues has been one of my official titles for a long time now. You can harass the hemomancer with the fact that you figured it out sooner than him."
He suspected that there was some disagreement between Draven and Vladimir, although he couldn't pinpoint its cause, but the downright giddy expression that spread on Draven's face was confirmation enough that his suspicion had some basis to it.
"Is that all?" Azir asked with a hint of impatience. "As much as I enjoy this tête-à-tête, I have duties to attend to." Draven narrowed his eyes and Azir briefly wondered if he misspoke.
"What's that word? The tet-sumthing. Sounds Demcian."
"I can truthfully say that I have no idea."
"But you just said it!"
"I died long before the foundation of Demacia. All my knowledge of temporary languages in magically imparted. I am possibly the least qualified person on the matter of linguistics." He crossed his arms and glared, as if that would prevent the Noxian from getting any more off topic.
"Riiight. Sorry, I forgot. I was looking for you because Jericho wants you to swing around to our HQ and get that stone-mage girl under control. She's been a nuisance all morning." It took him a long moment to decipher that Draven meant Taliyah. The young stoneweaver was firm in her determination to do good, but very misguided in her actions and was as a result the cause of a great many headaches.
"Very well, I shall see what I can do to reign her in."
"Much appreciated." Draven hesitated for a spell before he went on. "There's also a personal request. A small favor, if you'd grant it." Azir gave a small gesture with his hand that he should continue. "I'd like to borrow someone from your staff. The photographer chick, the pretty one who made your promotion pictures." He mimics the act of taking a photo which honestly wouldn't help any if Azir didn't already know the person in question.
"Seha'Din? I suppose so. However I hope you do realize that I can not order her to date you if she was not inclined to do so on her own." In his place, Azir would have been insulted by an accusation like that, but Draven encountered the claim often enough to shrug it off with a sigh.
"Nah. I know what people say, but everyone who gets a piece of Draaaven-" He struck a seductive pose and gave a lewd wink. "- does so because they want to. I need the expertise of, ugh... Sedin?"
"Seha'Din." He could see Draven silently mouthing the name a couple of times.
"I'll need to practice that. Anyhow, our own photographer is a hack and the whole big bad barbarian theme they went with in every photo shoot ever really hurt Darius' rep. He's a general for fuck's sake, not Garen Crownguard, Noxian edition." Azir chuckled slightly at the Executioner's anger, but couldn't find it in him to disagree. Garen was a decent enough fellow, based on their limited interactions, but definitely not the sharpest sword in the armory.
"That last series of photos your lady made were good stuff. Subtle symbolism and whatnot, that's the stuff people like." Azir held up a hand before Draven could go on.
"Restoring your brother's good image is as noble a cause as any. I'll tell her to arrange it. Now, if you would excuse me, I need to prevent young Taliyah from causing an international incident and I suppose your adoring crowd would be most delighted to have you back."
"Yeah, right. Thank you for your time, emperor." Draven, reading loud and clear that he had been dismissed gave a parting nod and took his leave. Azir waited a few more minutes before following him, heading towards the Noxian main building.
There was no love lost between him and Taliyah, but as the head of the Shuriman delegation it was his responsibility to keep the stoneweaver out of trouble and gods help him she found trouble everywhere she went.
He squared his shoulders and prayed to whatever deity may listen that she would be settled with words only.
AN.: I'm tentatively looking for title suggestions, because someone had a good point that the current one sounds very much like the continuation of something.
I'm generally speaking not a big fan of the 'Demacia now fears magic' change, but it sounded like an interesting enough challenge to try and write around, so Shurima will be leaning towards Noxus when it comes to political alliances.
I'm having ideas and throwing them at the wall to see if they stick in any vaguely entertaining pattern or color combination. Apologies in advance for any odd concepts that will undoubtedly rear their heads up as the story goes. I hope you'll enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy coming up with them.