Tristana shuffled nervously in the undergrowth. Beside her, Lendilia was making daisy chains. They both could see a tall white spire with a red tile roof in the distance.
Lendi glanced over to see Tristana frantically pick up her radio once again, and hiss loudly into it.
"Teemo! Teemo! Come in! Seriously, are you alright?"
The scout noticed that she had stopped calling him captain, or even acting professional in the slightest. She thought about teasing the Megling again over their "relationship," but thought better of it. Tristana seemed way too edgy.
As if in silent agreement, Tristana shuffled once again, checking her ammo for the fifteenth time, looking over all of her equipment, and then resuming her hawklike stare at the trees ahead.
Lendi couldn't blame her though. Teemo almost always sent back at least a ping. Right now all they were getting was static. She kept telling herself that Teemo was perfectly fine, and he would come marching through the undergrowth with Veigar over his shoulder and Lulu kissing the ground in front of him for bravely freeing her from such a sadistic captor.
Her daydreams were broken by Tristana's sudden announcement.
"I'm tired of waiting. Let's go check on him." Not waiting for Lendi, Trist broke into a run directly for the spire.
Behind her, the younger yordle took the time to pack her daisy chain and take a drink of water, before following in her companion's footsteps.
After much stumbling and griping, she broke through the undergrowth into a wide clearing, with a small but regal castle marking its center. The stones were white, and the roofs were red. It had one tall thick tower, a glass atrium in the back, and, in a striking contradiction, a burnt-out shack in the front.
She saw Tristana underneath a window seal, writhing in the grass. Worried that she had been caught in a spell, Lendi dropped her pack and ran to the window. To her chagrin, she found that Tristana had been cursed with a fit of giggles.
The normally very serious yordle was now holding her mouth with one hand and her ribs in the other. She shook and rolled with silent laughter. When she finally spoke, it came out in a squeak. "Look at Teemo!"
Lendi nervously edged up to the window, almost expecting Veigar to pop up. Instead, she found herself looking at the most magnificent kitchen she had ever seen, complete with a bread baking oven, a magical freezing closet, and multiple stoves. Pots and pans of all shapes and sizes hung from the outer walls.
She was so enraptured by her dream kitchen that she almost didn't notice the yordle working away at the marble chopping board. He looked oddly familiar, but she did not realize that she was staring at her scout leader until he turned to put diced mushrooms in a pot on one of the stoves. The moustache looked… gentleman-ly?
She sputtered, then chuckled, then fell back on her rear laughing out loud. She never knew she could even laugh that hard, but then again she had never seen the super-serious scout in anything but his uniform or camouflage.
Her laughing abruptly ended when a heavy weight fell on her.
"Shhhh! Lendi!" she heard Teemo whisper. "Veigar is in there! He's in the dining room through the door."
She immediately froze. An apron came off of her face. Tristana, who was used to tight fixes, remained calm, her face still red as she looked Teemo up and down. Teemo caught her glances and sighed as Trist began to giggle softly.
"I will never hear the end of it."
His best friend reigned in her amusement long enough for a cheerful "Nope."
Lendi was still staring at the kitchen in wonder, but pulled herself away to ask. "So whats going on?"
Teemo took the time to explain, calmly, how he had discovered Lulu free of her bonds and treating the Master of Evil to tea. When both looked skeptically at him, he then described Lulu's strange behavior, and her complete naivety.
"I do think, though, that Veigar respects her for her magical ability. He hasn't come quietly in the slightest. But I do believe that she might be a good influence on him."
"Wonderful," Trist scoffed. "Can we kill Veigar now?"
Lendi and Teemo both opened their mouth to speak, but Trist quickly cut them off. "Yes, yes, I know he's a League champion. But he still kidnapped her."
Teemo didn't respond, but instead brought them inside, and led them to a pair of doors. He softly pushed open one door, allowing them both a peak.
It was a very beautiful dining room, but Lendi still thought the kitchen was better. At the center of a long table in the center of the room sat two very regal-looking yordles, both dressed in white. The girl had semi-frilly gold lace covering her dress, while the male across bore red stripes and spikes. It did not take long to distinguish which was Veigar.
Although, she couldn't see his face, Lendi could tell that Veigar seemed put out. He was scratching his neck awkwardly, as well as gripping his knife like it was glued to him. But he kept both of his glowing eyes on his host, and, strangely, he would respond to her conversation in an uncharacteristically non-aggressive manner (usually). Both Lendi and Tristana raised their eyebrows quizzically. Was this actually the tyrannical and insane Veigar?
Across from him, Lulu kept up a constant string of speech, going high and low, whispering and shouting, as she spoke, her hands dancing in front of her. She would politely pause when Veigar interrupted, but she picked up at the same pace of dialogue after Veigar finished.
It seemed they were talking of the League of Legends, Lulu waxing over how wonderful it sounded.
Lendi felt a tug on her shirt, and she turned to see a very troubled Tristana and thoughtful Teemo. Teemo had that expression on whenever he had a plan. After a moment he voiced it.
"Alright. I have no weapons due to this transformation spell, but Veigar doesn't know who I am. Lulu's costume fooled him. I just need to hold a low profile. I am finishing the appetizer right now."
"What is it?" Lendi interrupted.
"Mushroom stew," Teemo answered without hesitation.
"Of course!" she mumbled under her breath. Teemo did not hear though, and continued to explain.
"Now I will need help with the main course. After that, I will need to return to duties back at Bandle. However, this is our first opportunity to have someone on the inside who can keep tabs on Veigar. They could take my place as cook, so preferably someone with skills as a chef."
"Is that safe, though?" Lendi piped up.
"I don't believe Veigar will kill his own source of homemade food. He's a bit too selfish for that. Also, whoever does take this role can note down all they observe and leave it where I can come pick it up."
"A journal is inconspicuous," Trist suggested.
Lendi did a double take. She was sure the Megling would be fully against this plan, seeing as she only wanted Veigar in a prison or six feet under.
Teemo stroked his moustache subconsciously as he considered the idea. He stopped when Lendi began giggling. When he finally spoke, he kept his eyes on the youngest yordle.
"Hmm. I actually think that's an excellent idea, Trist. Said person can casually write in their journal, but leave hints… maybe even write in the margins in invisible ink. However, if anything goes wrong, we should leave a com nearby so that they can quickly phone for help if need be." At this, Tristana gave a questioning glance at Teemo, obviously despising the idea of calling for back-up. Teemo casually glanced back, and they had a silent conversation with their eyes.
Lendilia was confused as to what the secret was, until she saw Tristana give her a very peculiar glance.
"Oh no. No, no, no, no! I am not being your little spy. No way! ESPECIALLY not for-" she realized how loud she was being and dropped her voice down, pointing towards the doors. "-not for Veigar! I mean, I'm already employed."
Teemo gave her an apologetic look, which probably meant she was being ordered to. He spoke softly.
"Lendi, I can't spare any other yordles. Most others have irreplaceable jobs. And I appreciate what you do, you're a great messenger, but there are many other junior scouts waiting for this position. And I can tell that you want something more. I'll even talk the mayor into giving you a raise."
Lendi opened her mouth to protest, that she didn't want a raise, not even a million dollars, because she wanted to remain with the scouts. Because she fully understood that this was something totally different.
But the words never came. She realized this would be her first and probably her only promotion since joining the Scouts of the Mothership. And a messenger isn't a usual job for a 23-year-old scout. She was simply horrible at fighting, couldn't find the heart to be stern, and was the loudest yordle in the city. She needed something else if she wanted to make a difference. But she couldn't help but feel like she was being fired. And, to top it all off, forced to live with a maniac, a powerful dark mage.
Teemo read her watering eyes, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I know what you think this is. You're still one of my Scouts. Just you need to act like a cook. Alright." He used his other hand to wipe away one of her tears, before quickly becoming more firm. "And quickly, seeing as I've been 'making stew' for the last fifteen minutes, and I haven't even started cooking it yet. And they are still waiting on tea."
The alarming information filtered slowly in Lendi's mind, as she breathed in slowly, and wiped the tears from her eyes. She wanted to argue this. But she knew Teemo was right. She could get to the tearful goodbyes later. Right now, she needed to save Teemo.
"Okay," she said slowly, more to herself than anyone. "Trist, if you could make the tea. Make sure to put the tea bags in after you've poured in the boiling water. Teemo, if you could finish the stew. I'll begin the main courses."
The three of them scattered to their duties. Lendi grabbed a large pie dish, while Trist ran and opened the pantry door, seeking tea leaves. She froze and stared. Lendi, needing some ingredients, ran over and looked for whatever Trist saw. She too froze.
Teemo was the last to join them, his stew currently simmering. He looked down the stairs, at the large casks of drinks, the rows upon rows of cheeses, the crates of veggies, and the barrels of nuts, and wondered what the girls were staring at. It all looked wonderful, but he failed to see what caught their eye.
"They asked for three courses."
Tristana poured out three bowls of stew, and put a piece of summer vegetable pie on each plate, as well as some pomegranate seeds and cherries. She then took the three plates, balancing the bowls of stew on top, and carried them to an open counter where two stools and a stack of crates rested. She set them all down, then jumped onto the makeshift crate seat.
It all smelled wonderful, but it was only a sample of what Veigar and Lulu had. It turned out that Lendi's father was a chef, so her new job was perfect for her. But Tristana didn't say that. She still knew that Lendi wanted to return home. However it was far too late to find another replacement now.
She was joined a few bites into her meal by Lendi, who had been cleaning up the kitchen, and placing the leftovers in the freezing closet. She sounded tired.
"There are strange white puff-balls with eyes and horns in the freezing closet-"
Tristana suddenly squealed and jumped off of her stool. She soon returned with one of her favorite creatures in her arms, setting it on her lap while she ate. Lendi edged away in her stool. Tristana only laughed.
"They're called Poros, Lendi, and they're harmless. I guess Lulu added them to the freezing closet to give the place some life."
Lendi looked around at the large kitchen. "It does seem to be quite a large and empty castle." She sighed, picking at her food with a fork.
Tristana opened her mouth to give some encouragement, when Teemo returned from serving dessert. He hopped up onto his stool on the other side of Tristana's crates, and gratefully began to dig into Lendi's cooking.
"Good job on the plum and hazelnut pastries, Lendi. After all they've eaten, they still found room for those. I might take one with me later."
Tristana quickly changed the subject from leaving. "What are they talking about?"
Teemo swallowed his mouthful of pie. "Well, they were just talking about Lulu's past. She says she entered the Glade when she was seventeen during the time that Abracus was mayor."
Tristana's eyes went wide. She did some quick mental math. "THE Abracus?! But that was hundreds of years ago! Before the rune wars!"
Lendi came out of her shell to join the conversation. "How is that possible? She looks my age!"
"Have you noticed her shoes?" Teemo asked calmly.
"The curly ones?"
"Yeah," Tristana said slowly, her mind connecting dots. "They look almost exactly like what you see in the old paintings of the pre-Rune Wars societies, before Bandle had walls or defences. Come to think of it, this castle reflects some of the older architecture styles. I noticed earlier that it looks like the old Meeting House."
"Exactly. The Glade, somehow, has different rules for time, if it has rules at all. Lulu said she isn't really sure herself. She just knows that when she returned, her family and friends were gone. And her city was surrounded by walls and gun towers."
Tristana felt a pang of sympathy run through her. She couldn't imagine the pain of returning home to find everything different, and your own family gone for hundreds of years.
Teemo carried on, his unoccupied hand drifting over to scratch the Poro's head. "Now, however, they are talking about Veigar's magic. She tried to learn about his past, but he remained silent on it."
"Blast!" cursed Tristana. Bandle City's profile of Veigar had a very big hole, specifically who he was before he arose as a dark mage. A group of curious yordles once journeyed to discover more, but were never seen again.
"He did talk about dark magic, and how it's superior, et cetera, et cetera."
"What type of magic does Lulu use?" asked Lendi.
Teemo looked down thoughtfully. "I… don't know. That would be a good thing to research. I have heard of a specific type of magic used by the Fae, but I'm not sure what it is, or if Lulu uses it. Whatever the case, she is an immensely powerful mage."
"Ya think?" Lendi indicated the castle with a wave of her finger.
Right on cue, they heard a gigantic "IMAGINATIO!" from the dining room. All three rushed to the door, peering through the gap.
Lulu stood, an arm and leg outstretched gracefully behind her, as she balanced on top of her chair, her staff outstretched towards the burnt-out shack. At first, no one knew what had changed. But then Teemo pointed to the right and murmured softly: "That door used to be a burnt crisp."
All six sets of eyes (Veigar, pix, and the poro included) examined the door. Now it matched the castle, with white paint, and a glass window set in it, the glass stained red in certain spots to make the shape of a rose.
Veigar approached the door and looked it up and down. A soft grumbling was heard (probably about the rose) before he pushed the door open and went inside. He came back a moment later, his yellow eyes shining with something akin to satisfaction. However, he led with a complaint.
"You could have added some REAL weapons, you know."
Lulu huffed and dropped back in her seat. "No. I think spades and rakes do better things than swords and-"
Veigar interrupted, pretending not to hear. "HOWEVER, it fits my needs, and is far more pleasing to the eye than that burnt-out piece of-" He stopped there, obviously stopping some crude language before it escaped.
The chivalrous response, or lack-of, did not go unnoticed by five of the listeners -the poro having fallen asleep.
"You're welcome, Veigar!" Lulu announced.
"Now, I have greatly enjoyed your company," said Veigar sarcastically. Oblivious, Lulu smiled wider. "However the sun is setting soon, and I'm sure you would like to get to the Institute without walking."
He walked over to his seat and picked up his battle staff. He closed his eyes, concentrating for a second, before aiming at Lulu.
"Remain still please. I am not very proficient with neutral magic, but I can't get you through their arcane shield with dark magic. I should be teleporting you somewhere near the front steps of the Institute."
The front of his staff glowed. Lulu waved her hand as blue rings constricted about her.
"Cya in a month, Vei—"
With a buzz of magic, Lulu disappeared. Veigar cackled to himself. "Like in the main fountain. Hopefully she wont enjoy that…" With a curse and an "Oh well" he turned to face the back atrium, his eyes quickly regaining their glee. "Now to explore the rest of my new EVIL lair."
Please, not the kitchen, thought Trist.
Thankfully, he first stomped off to a door directly across from the kitchen. She guessed he wanted to see the castle from the outside. Obviously pleased, he came back inside with an extra swagger to his step. He then turned right, to the atrium.
She felt a tug, and retreated to the kitchen with a sigh of relief.
"He probably doesn't really care what's in the kitchen," Teemo assured them. "So we should be good for now."
Trist knew Teemo had spied for long periods of time on Veigar before, and knew his mannerisms. But she grabbed Teemo's hand and began to drag him, always prepared for the worst.
"I don't want to take any chances."
She suddenly felt Teemo pull himself loose, and she looked back to see a very tearful Lendi. Instantly regretting her haste, she ran over and gave the pitiful yordle a soft hug, holding the awakened poro against her back. Lendi instantly put her head into the Megling's shoulder pauldron, and began to sob harder. Behind her the poro rubbed into the strings of her apron, purring softly.
Trist spoke slowly. "It's ok. It's alright, Lendi. You'll do fine. Veigar may be evil, but he wont hurt you just because he can. I don't think he kills innocents either."
Teemo also threw in some encouragement. "He does seem to have a small sense of decency. He'll be gone for most of the year as a League Champion, and when he's back, you'll probably only see him at meal times. He likes to read his books more than anything."
"I hear he's got a hidden library with hundreds of books in it, and he has only read a quarter of them. He will probably bring them here to read, so you better write down what you see. Okay?"
Lendi nodded into her shoulder, then pulled back and wiped her eyes with a hand. "Okay. I-I'll try!"
Teemo nodded officiously to her, then turned to Tristana. "Where did you say you saw my uniform?"
"Down in the pantry, next to the fungi."
In full scout mode again, he nodded once more, ignoring the jab, and jogged towards the pantry door. A few moments later he returned in his tan uniform, and handed Lendi the chef outfit. She then turned to change, herself, but Teemo stopped her with a question.
"Where did you leave your scout bag?"
Lendi looked around then suddenly said, "Oh yeah! When I saw Tristana laughing, I thought she was in trouble, so I dropped it. It should be in the field out there." She pointed out the window, then turned and ran into the pantry.
Tristana chuckled and shook her head. Lendi would definitely make a better cook than a scout. She noticed Teemo giving her a reproving glare.
"What?" she asked.
"It's not nice to laugh when someone else is in a predicament," Teemo said huffily.
At first she thought he meant Lendi, but quickly realized he was referring to earlier. "Hey! I never even dreamed I would see you in a moustache."
Teemo sighed loudly, before asking tentatively, "How do I look?"
Tristana laughed. He was only ever this relaxed around her, or in a bar. "Please don't ever wear one again!" The poro in her arms nodded.
Teemo gave her a mock scowl, then returned to his controlled behavior when Lendi came clomping up the wooden pantry stairs. He ran out the window and grabbed her bag, and returned quickly, holding it by one of its straps. He took out a communicator, a knife, and a short blowpipe with several darts. Reaching into his own dart pouch, he threw a couple more in her ammo bag.
"Blue ones are sleepers, green are blind, orange are weak poison, and black is fatal poison. Remember that. I'll return with some invisible ink, a normal ink 'n' quill, and a journal soon."
Tristana stepped over and gave Lendi a sisterly kiss on the cheek. "Be good!" She passed her the poro. "And take care of Mr. Cuddles for me." She would miss Lendi, that was for sure. But she also understood the necessity of her mission.
Teemo gave her the equipment, giving a final warning. "Hide that stuff well. And don't ever read any of his books."
With that they both jumped over the windowsill.
Veigar looked out from his high window, chuckling maliciously. This castle, with the right amount of dark magic, could become an insurmountable fortress. Insurmountable. He needed to write that word down. It would sound extremely daunting in his next evil speech.
Where was he? Oh, yes, his fortress. His eyes scanned the distant horizon, and he imagined armies marching across it to try to stop his tyrannous rule. And Noxian standard would fly beside Demacian flag. All would kneel equally, or perish equally.
His eyes lowered lovingly to his own castle. The burnt warehouse on the front was now a barracks, due to Lulu's magic. Veigar had requested it so that the whole structure was uniform in style. He would have to replace all of the gardening utensils with real weapons and his battle outfits. His normal dark blue outfit was behind him on his bed, where he had found it. He sorely wanted to burn the smelly thing and simply get a new one.
But first, Veigar needed to do some work. He hated manual labor, so he would require assistance.
He walked down the long yordle-sized staircase to the kitchen, only to find a monstrous bakery and cuisine. The cook was rummaging around in a cabinet.
"CHEF!" he called. The chef spun around. To his surprise, instead of a furry and mustachioed tan yordle, it was a blue female yordle with wide light blue eyes (female yordles have no fur).
"Who are you?" he asked, more curious than suspicious.
"S-s-sorry," she stuttered hesitantly, "th-the original chef s-said that he was going to disappear since he was… part of Lulu's spell. A-and… he went to Bandle City to find a replacement. And yeah-!"
"And he chose you?" Veigar interrupted. He noticed the line of sweat running down her temple, as well as the slight shake of her knees. He enjoyed being feared, but but he had to be sure that she wasn't afraid of something she was hiding. He drew his white battle staff from around his back, looking at it admiringly for a second, before swinging it at her. "ABSTERGO!"
She cringed, but did not draw any weapons. The orange magic flew by harmlessly, only removing the light highlights from her lavender hair. He nodded, content that she had reacted like any commoner, and that her fear was completely devoted to his prowess.
"I will test your cooking skills, later, peasant. First, I must move all of my tomes from back there," he pointed back with his free arm towards the new barracks, "to there." He turned to point at his library. "And I require assistance."
He almost left then, but suddenly remembered his other books. "Ah, and I also need all of these books moved, too." He flourished his staff towards an open area in the kitchen. A portal split open, and the smell of books and dust wafted between its neon purple border. Inside were hundreds of ethereal bookshelves, every single one full of books.
He faintly smirked when her eyes widened and her ears dropped, both in awe and in dread.
Behind the windowsill, Teemo and Tristana winced at Lendi's task, but were satisfied with her performance. More importantly, Veigar trusted her.
"Maybe we should have given her a cover story before leaving," whispered Tristana.
"She didn't do that bad," Teemo retorted.
She poked him in the ribs, before both ran back towards Bandle. Lendi would be just fine.