"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart"
Haruki Murakami
Answers (Part 2)
The isolation room seemed barely able to contain what was inside, Garen looked at the female tied to the bed, while Katarina looked back at him, even their eyes seemed to question each other in a strange form of nonverbal communication "What is this and why does it have my name?" Garen started the questions he wasn't a man who fooled around, always straight to the point.
"No time for games huh?" she replied, still buying a little more time, Garen expression changed from stern to impassive, a gesture Katarina seemed to recognize "Fine, fine" she added "It's a DNA and genetic memories preservation device; just in case you don't fully get what it is for, it's what we use to store our genetic strains and memories so a clone can be created and then the memories of the former clone can be injected on said new clone"
Garen raised an eyebrow this got stranger by the minute, why would Noxus had a device of those with his name, where they attempting to clone him? "That one is very old but we build things to last" Katarina continued her explanation, as she spoke her expression started to change which sparked Garen curiosity it went from her usual cocky smirk to a more sad and melancholic expression "It's actually more than 900 years old" Garen smiled with a cynical hint "So, you are using a 900 years old device to clone me?" a slight laugh escaped his mouth as he raised the half full device "Why not use a new one?" he inquired showing the device to Katarina "I bet you guys are missing components since this thing is half empty" Katarina looked at him first confused, then laughed hard for a few seconds, which caused Garen anger "What is so funny?!" he barked "Why does this thing has my name on it then?!"
Katarina finished laughing, but she wasn't mocking him "900 years and you are still the same, I can't believe it! You are an identical copy of yourself!" Garen froze in place once it all clicked in place "What are you talking about?!" he asked "What nonsense are you saying?" Katarina sighed, she imagined this moment on her head for too much time, making it a perfect meeting, quite different from what was happening now "You are a clone" she started, Garen froze in disbelief "The original you existed 900 years ago or more I can't remember exactly, the empty part of the container was the part that held your genetic strain I injected it on several ovules that then I secretly implanted on the women that married your descendants or descended from your family line, so far none of them produced what I wanted, until now" Katarina looked at him so perfect, basically identical to his predecessor "There was always a problem, either a mutation, or the product didn't birth, or it was different from you, or it wasn't you or it was weak, since I had to use those women wombs, there was no way to ensure success, I couldn't breed you in a Noxian lab, it was too risky and it wouldn't be you, but finally here you are, all those failures… but you, you are perfect"
The Demacian couldn't give credit to her words this was way too strange, way too crazy, was she delusional? the quesiton crossed his mind "Hmmp, what an elaborate lie, albeit is quite hard to believe it" and that was exactly what troubled him, she was a great lier or so he heard, why create a lie that wasn't believable? "Are you on drugs or something?" Katarina exploded with his words, trying to raise she pulled the restrains in anger "Is all true!" she yelled, her eyes fixed on him "How could it be? Noxus and Demacia have never been together, how could we have meet each other before?" he inquired "Because it wasn't always like this!" she replied again pulling on the restrains tying to free herself "There was one time, hundreds of years ago that we were one, both Noxus and Demacia, we came from the same origins, you have been fed lies, just like the people of Noxus, you and your people have been fed lies by your leaders to throw more wood in the fire of the hatred, I was there!" she continued, yelling almost desperate to make him believe "I have been cloned through 10 lifetimes, you know what is to live 950 something years like this? Without the person I cared the most?..." she said and her mood changed completely, she turned her face way, hiding her eyes below the vibrant red flocks of hair falling on her forehead "Without you…" and in desperation tears crossed her cheeks "It's been too long… far too long" even if she won't admit it, she expected something different, she hoped that, by the time they met, by the time she made sure he was the right one, their meeting will be different, that he will hold her in his powerful arms as he did before, that she will lean on his chest and hear that lovely sound of his heart beating for her, but no, things went to hell again, she tightened her fist around the restrains, feeling frustrated and defeated, her teeth gritted as she tried to hold back the tears of desperation.
Garen on the other side was completely lost; he couldn't make head from tails out of all this was she really lying? This was way too elaborate and weird for a simple lie "I have been a ghost… living like this is a torture, now I know that, just like you said it before" Garen looked at her, she was now smiling, her eyes full of tears, he realized she was smiling at him, just how this turned out like this? his mind felt off balance, unable to understand "The part that is missing was your genetic strain the other part is your memories, all your old self knew is there, is the missing piece of the puzzle" Garen looked at the device his finger accidentally pressed a small button on the back and a needle came out "Inject it on the back of your head and your memories will return, it won't be as seamless as we Noxians do it, because… well" she chuckled sadly "Your former self has been death for a long time"
Garen contemplated the device, this all was too strange "What happened to this world we lived in… what happened to me?" he inquired, he couldn't believe what he was doing, asking something that his mind said it was a lie, but his gut, his heart told him it wasn't "The homeworld was made barren in the wake of war, we destroyed everything, it was what we called the Factions War, it happened after the birth of today ideals and creeds, even though Demacia and Noxus doesn't existed by that time, we wore their current symbols in armbands, even if we were part of the same organization, like the army, like you and me…" Garen walked closer to her, standing in front of the bed his eyes seemed diferent "Army?" he inquired "Yes, we were both Colonels in the army, two of the most condecorated soldiers, albeit by diferent ways, you were the paragon of a soldier, strong, gallant, brave, honorable, while I was the best the black ops had to offer, we met in a battlefield, your unit came to save me from a mission gone wrong, only you and myself came out alive and a bond formed between us I even remember how we held hands together as they moved us away in stretchers" a sniffled sob left her lips "from there we dated, spend time together and…" she hushed again turning her face away but this time the melancholic smile surfaced again "Tell me" he requested, genuinely interested to know "We married, although we didn't have any children hehe, it would have been easier to clone you from your own line, although that would have been weird"
Garen dreams now started to become clearer, the flames, the homeworld on flames "When the war began, even though we supported different factions we tried to remain as neutral as possible, but somebody didn't want us to, so they…" her voice broke as she whispered the words "They killed you, they cowardly murdered you" her fist tightened, holding the blankets now, the fury she was restraining was incredible "You died in my arms, bleeding, I called you, I tried to save you, but it was all in vain, all in fucking vain!" her fist slammed the bed, making Garen take a step back "I mourned you for so long… the world was falling apart, I ran to my father, but they got him too, my father was the second most important person on the faction, and they killed him too, I reach him when he was barely breathing and he gave me that" she said pointing to the device "Its funny" she said smiling in between tears "He never liked you, but he saved what you were to make me happy, to protect me"
Garen felt his knees shacking, all of his being trembled at the realization of the meaning of his dreams, they were not dreams but a genetic memory of his past, his own death, the destruction of his own world "No… this can't be, it can't be!" he yelled as he turned from Katarina "That is the truth!" she yelled in return "Accept it, you can't escape from it, you are clone of a great man, the least you could do is act like him and accept the truth!" Garen turned to her, almost getting in the bed he faced the woman, his eyes blazed "NO! I'm not a clone I'm not a copy of anybody!" he struggled with it, but he knew it was the truth "Then I'll make you see the truth!" she yelled back and her hands went free, Garen never noticed that her hands were free, with a quick movement she stripped Garen from the device and injected it on the back of his head, pain reached directly into his brain as the memories flooded his mind, his eyes became white as he convulsed caused by the erratic synapses on his brain surfacing because of the information injected, making him fall backwards with Katarina on top, she hold him as much as she could to avoid the man from biting his own tongue or harming himself until the convulsions stopped.
"I'm sorry…I'm so very sorry" she whispered on his ear "I didn't want it to come to this, believe me I didn't want it" her hand careesed his cheek as she softly kissed his lips "I'm so very sorry… but you needed to know, you deserved to know, I did all this because I wanted to bring you back, I wanted to have you with me, my love for you have survived all this time, but now that I see you I don't know if yours did I was so blind, I just want to go back to those days below our favorite tree, those days in our house at the countryside, those nights you gave me…"
Katarina raised and cleaned her tears "But I'm not sure anymore of what will happen when you wake up, that is up to you, it's your decision, but no matter what, even after all this years, all this Katarinas, I still love you" that said she stripped from the patient clothing, completely naked she looked to the ceiling and jumped, getting a hold of the ventilation shaft, she removed the ceiling panel and got herself in, not 5 minutes passed when Sona came in, seen Garen on the floor she activated the alarm, guards came in, but Katarina was gone.
Of duty and debts
Noxus capital was a dark contrast to Demacia's, black buildings towered the streets dimly illuminated by the mortician light of the public lamps Noxus, contrary to popular Demacian beliefs was not at a constant night, but the planet wide shield filtered the light in a way that it appeared so, Noxians got used to this and they thrived in this environment of unnatural selection a dark jungle where only the fittest and strongest survived, there was no place for the weak in Noxus and there was no exile for them, once born a Noxian you die a Noxian and in death you may find your purpose to serve Noxus, a motto all citizens were well aware of.
If the surface was bad, the bowels of the planet were worst; places of even more fearsome nature. Under the cities the Noxian government had set inmense chambers where they keep the abominations, failed genetic strains who Swain deemed still useful as cannon fooder or shock troopers to serve the purposes and benefit of Noxus, yet having no right of their own, Noxians officers could dispose them as they saw fit, all of them cursed, doomed to oblivion or death if they were lucky, all except for one…
One that hid in the DuCouteau house, the younger daughter of the late General DuCouteau, Cassiopeia was spared that fate by her family influence, once a godly beauty walking on Noxus she was horribly mutated in her last cloning attempt, something went horribly wrong and after the injection of memories a mutagen filtered into her transforming the once beautiful woman into a nagaesque creature, her green eyes were lost forever replaced by white pupils, claws replaced her delicate hands, only her torso and long curly red hair remained as the woman she once was, from that day forward, Cassiopeia hated her reflection on the mirror.
The tragedy that involved the DuCouteau household was known by all of Noxus and there was no way to reverse it, strangely her genetic strain data was lost during the accident and so was the records of her memories, Cassiopeia was doomed to die after this life, there won't be more of her there was not a future, just suffering.
The snake woman spend her days crawling around the halls of the manor, sometimes finding comfort on making other miserable, sometimes grieving her lost beauty, sometimes spending time with her only family left, Talon and Katarina, there was nothing more for her now.
"Miss… Mistress" a shaky voice called entering Cassiopeia's room the house servants were always afraid of her, more than one already left the service of the DuCouteau for this reason, not all of them alive "What isss it?" her serpentine voice responded as she came out of the shadowy corner of her room, her senses delighted in the fear of others "There… is a messenger downstairs, he said he has an urgent message for you, he didn't give a name" Cass hissed, quickly approaching the servant "I don't like been disssturbed!" her fangs came out as she spoke, scaring the hell out of the poor guy.
"This is important" the strong voice from the door forced her to look on that direction, the voice didn't sound human, at least not all of it, there was something strange on the hulking hooded figure "Your sister died failing her duty, Emperor Swain had commanded me to inform you" Cass hissed at the messenger words "What!? That'ssss imposssssible!" she scowled, her serpentine voice showing her alteration as she approached the passive man fangs glaring as well as claws "You are a liar!" she said lunging forward her claws ripping the hood apart, but the face below forced her away out of mere terror.
The man below was not really a man, at least not for quite some time, his skin looked green, rotten, his eyes were red, his face twisted in an eternal mockery of his former self, one of his hands was pure bone and machine, his muscles remained still, pulsing with strength "Have no fear, you will join her soon" the cadaveric hulking figure said to Cassiopeia as his hand pulled a terrifying axe from his back in a split second Cass saw him charging at her, but she was no sassy socialite, she was the youngest daughter of Marcus DuCouteau, even if she was not as skilled as Katarina she knew the drill; with a quick move she slides out of harm reach as the axe came down slicing everything in its path screaming servant included, the hulking abomination turned around swinging the axe to catch her but Cass ducked and glided forwards again going out of harm way.
"Come here slithering lady!" the muscular being yells "You can't dodge me foreva!" the abomination jumped, closing the gap between him and Cass, who went for the door but the flying axe hitting the wall cornered Cass baring her escape, the monster ran and tackled her slamming the naga female against a wall causing a shriek of pain to come out her lips "Let me go!" she yelled as her claws tried to rip the rotten skin to no avail, the creature didn't seem to feel any pain which made her terror grow, even more when the monster surrounded her with his arms, pressing her delicate waist sending ripples of pain all over her body, to make things worse, he started slamming her over and over in the wall until she almost lost consciousness and could only feel when the monster threw her away. Laying on the floor Cass looked at the door but the dizziness was too much, she couldn't move and now the creature blocked the way, recovering his axe ready to end her life he walked slowly towards her Cass could feel fear, and apparently the creature smelled it as he raised the axe to finish her off; and it would have finished her if it was not because of the spinning circular blades that sliced through the abomination wrist and kneels, maiming him severely, the blades returned to their origin, a brown haired men stood in the door, after catching the weapons, a retractile blade extended behind his arm with sure pace he approached the monster who was now lying in the floor without hands and legs "Pathetic" his lips opened barely as his blade came down the monster head, finishing off the creature.
Talon immediately ran to Cass, placing his arm under her back, he helped her seat "Are you ok?" he inquired, making a quick check by eye "Yesss… where iss Kat?" she inquired worried, her bones ached, the pain keep her still in a numb state "I don't know, it doesn't matter now" he steeled himself, knowing probably Katarina was no longer among the living "Can you walk?" he inquired, urging to escape, the mansion was compromised, this thing wasn't the only one that will be chasing them now "Isss been a while since I can't" Cassiopeia responded, her lips letting a slight giggle escape. Helping her up, Talon carried her on his shoulder as Cass wrapped her tail around Talon waist "What isss happening Talon?" she inquired, hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, Talon turned, knowing well the hunt began already "Hold on tight Cassiopeia" he said running quickly against the nearest window and jumping out, like a swift shadow he landed safely Talon was a Noxian breed for this, a mere jump wasn't going to slow him down, he quickly moved away from the house, pulling out a small device from one of his cloak pockets "Clearing order 999, passcode "Of the knife", execute" he spoke to the device, as he finished, the whole mansion exploded, foreseen this moment Talon had already prepared beforehand, he was glad the old explosives still worked that will probably slow them down.
Talon moved as fast as he could with Cass on his shoulder, the walk was not comfortable for her, especially considering the amount of broken bone she got in the assault of that monster, but she tried to keep her pain groans to a minimum, Talon was doing and incredible effort to pass unnoticed, but it was all for naught, as he soon learned when an acid grenade landed in front of him, Talon managed to jump into safety, avoiding most of the damage, but receiving part of the splash on his arm covering Cass, the burning was intense, but the he ignored the pain and looked at the foe in front.
"Urgoth" he said "Swain is too overconfident if things abominations will kill me, Sion is down already, you want to be the next?"
Urgoth barely spoke by now, he was little less than a machine bent on destruction a maniacal laugh escaped from the mechanical contraption of a mask he wore in the face "Of course not, good ol' emperor won't send just the freaks to enjoy!" a cynical voice sounded close to Urgoth as Draven appeared "Right big bro?" and then Darius appeared from behind, Talon was cornered.
Gently leaving Cass on the ground he prepared for battle, the retractile blade extended once more "Hide Cassiopeia, I will be with you shortly" he expected to find some resistance, but he was slowed down way too much by Cass, that gave them time to send 3 against him and the Raedsel shouldn't be far "Oh yea, both will join with the wench in the other life don't cha worry" Draven said, cocky as ever, Talon retorted, his eyes shooting blazes at him "Silence, you all will just be another body for the Gutter!"
Talon disappeared, causing the the three of them to pull out weapons the assassin was well known for his stealth tactics, from the left tree dagger like disc came out Darius and Draven moved from the way in time while Urgoth took the tree to his immense abdomen, the blades cut and a dark red with tints of green liquid poured out, the beast countered shooting his acid grenade towards the spot where the blades came, hitting nothing but air, Talon appeared behind Darius, the assassin was fast and his blade deadly, he quickly dashed and slashed Darius back, thanks to his armor he was able to dodge death, were it not for the metallic protection Talon's blade would have ripped his spine out, Talon moved again in the shadows his suit cloaking device working at max capacity, he jumped on Draven going for his head, Draven was quick and dodge the blade but Talon was better as he landed behind him 3 dagger disc left his cloak and landed on Draven's back throwing him to the ground.
Talon appeared again, dashing right straight to Urgoth the assassin was an agile shadow, jumping from one enemy to another, trying to wear them down with run and hide tactics, the tree Noxians were ready for everything that could meet them head on but they were ill prepared for Talon, the shadowy man reached his obese target in the blink of an eye, his blade pierced Urgoth chest, he pulled the weapon out fast and moved right on time to dodge a strike from Darius axe that hit Urgoth opening a nasty cut on his shoulder sending him to the ground bleeding profusely as the DuCouteau guardian went back swiftly into the shadows.
Darius felt like an idiot, not only they weren't able to take down one man, he was basically humiliating them, the General of Noxus raised his axe defensively, trying to discern Talon next attack he waited, listened, prepared, his ears detected a step then a heartbeat in a quick motion Darius swing his axe turning around to hit Talon clashing blades with the assassin, Darius superior strength gave him the upper hand sending Talon away after the impact but Talon was not so easily shrugged off, flipping in mid air a barrage of double bladed knifes are thrown against Darius by a vanishing Talon, he tried to parry as much as he could but in the end the barrage defeated him and he was nailed against a nearby wall by the attack.
Defeated, Darius breaths heavily Talon reappears and the knifes come back to him as Darius falls to his knees, Talon smiles as he approaches, placing his blade on Darius throat "This is not a challenge" the assassin says victorious raising his blade ready to end Darius, but before he could put Swain's most trusted officer to the blade a familiar buzzing sound called his attention, like a flying saw Draven spinning axes soared the air, Talon was ready to dodge but he realized he was not the target…
There was no other way, he needed to jump and so he did he put himself in between her and the axes, both hit him straight on the chest and the world became silent as the axes found home in his flesh pushing him back, falling to the ground mortally wounded breathing heavily "Talon!" he barely heard her voice calling, Cass ran to his side "Talon get up!" she said, commanding him, but Talon couldn't move his heart bleed with every beat more than half the axe blade was buried deep beneath his skin, lungs pierced, blood coming out of his mouth, making it nearly impossible to talk a single lucky strike Draven had, and he used it well "Run…what are you waiting for… spoiled little girl…run" he said his hand raising to caress her cheek, wet by tears "Run…" he said before his hand fell down without strength "NO! Don't go, don't leave me alone!" Cass screamed as Draven caught her from behind, assisted by Urgoth they took her away as she screamed and cryed.
Darius walked heavily standing over Talon's dying body, he had to admit that, if it wasn't for his brother dishonourable and lucky move, Talon would have finished them all and so, Darius did what he does best and he gave Talon the honor of his axe.
A single slash, a single execution a single motion and a head rolled, as silently as he came into this world he left.
Awakening
The ship was in a ruckus, every security member and troopers scrambled in search of the missing Noxian who attacked their commander, Garen was now in the sickbay under constant watch of Sona and Lux, in a fury the young blonde ordered a full search for Katarina. Sitting beside his bed, Lux looked at the strange device they found near Garen's body, "What could this thing be?" she asked herself over and over, nor she nor Sona could tell, according to Sona, Garen was fine, his brain showed a lot of activity, but physically he was perfectly fine.
Away from the sickbay, Katarina wandered the ship through the ventilation shafts, looking for the storage where they left her equipment which would probably be heavily guarded, something she didn't care of. After an hour or so of been lost inside the enormous ship she found the armory, the ducts for the armory where even slimmer than the regular one she had been using to move around the ship and for once in 10 lifetimes she cursed her curves as she crawled in the small space they left, as she moved the space seemed to reduce enough to bar her from passing, she crawled a few meters back cursing "Now what… run ass naked through the front door?" she asked herself trying to find a solution, mentally sizing the space she looked at herself "This is going to hurt…" holding her shoulder hard with her hand she dislocated her shoulder causing pain ran up her spine and into all her body nervous system, her lips bit so hard a thin line of blood came down from it, once she recovered briefly she tried again, making it to the other side after sliding her hips somehow inside, full of bruises and cuts "Stupid tight ass Demacian… ships!" she said as she put her shoulder back to its place, causing more pain on her body.
Finally reaching the ventilation shaft she took a look inside, there wasn't anybody in there, she descended upon the room and took her stuff, arming quickly she took the same way she got in, leaving no trace she was there, save for the equipment missing, repeating the same operation but this time passing her weapons first, she dislocated her shoulder, passed and put it back to place, with quite a lot of cursing in between.
"Now, where did I saw the hangar?" she said, trying to memorize the route, after a brief moment she set her way and moved quickly as a shade, reaching the hangar quickly she left the ventilation system and hid behind a crate, now the problem was how to open the hangar doors, hiding behind crates and ships she moved undetected, until she reached the flight control room, without problem she subdued the warrant officer there and released the locks on one of the dropships as well as she started the opening sequence of the hangar, red alarms blared, Katarina quickly jammed the control, the hangar staff ran for safety as security teams ran for the controls, it was more than obvious who was responsible for this, said person didn't remain to watch. As the team came in she jumped through the flight control room crystal, the room was basically a control tower in the center of the gigantic hangar, using her inhuman grace and agility she climbed down jumping from place to place and then ran for the unlocked dropship as the hangar doors started opening, without the vacuum shield activated space began to suck everything not held into the ground.
Katarina jumped into the ship and closed the hatch, the transport dropship was pulled towards space as the doors finished opening activating the engines she got away fast enough to avoid retaliation, safety bulwarks closed to cover the flight control room and finally an emergency bulwark sealed of the hangar from outer space, her daring maneuver was later informed to Lux, who was even more angrier than before but decided to not chase her for now.
It wasn't long for her to arrive at Noxus pushing the dropship engines to the limits the nimble transport arrived undetected by the watch fleets until it reached the planet's atmosphere, Katarina ejected the pilot seat, leaving the dropship to crash land, that will give her enough time as search parties will check the crash site first, once she set foot on Noxus she moved immediately, heading for the mansion, still undetected she arrived at what was left of it after a brief examination, she determined the cause of the explosion, glad that Talon and Cassiopeia had run away to safety, now she just had to find them, which could prove difficult.
Making her way out of the property, she secured something to cover her head and disguise herself as any other Noxian citizen from the remains of the house. She moved among the Noxians in plain daylight, hidden as the average citizen until something called her attention powerfully, in some of the many giant screens hanging from the buildings of Noxus, Emperor Swain gave a message, a message that spoke of betrayal, her betrayal…
The screens showed footage of her fight with Raedsel, helped by none other than Demacia's mighty champion, Garen Crownguard, as it also screened the fall of the battle station into the planet, the estimates of death was around 200,000 Noxians, Swain sold the story good, now every person in Noxus claimed her head. But it didn't end there, now Swain gave some words to the already angered population "The DuCouteau betrayal will be dealt with soon! their rotten state now lies in ruin and the remaining family members are in our custody" the people cheered, but Katarina knew better, Talon won't let him caught them alive, she walked away until a familiar sight caught her attention, a double sided blade left on the street, she quickly walked towards the spot and casually picked it up, that was when she saw Talon, hiding in an alleyway, her heart felt relief at the sight and she moved closer, again trying to pass undetected. As soon as she got within word range she spoke "Why haven't you leave the planet?" she inquired, Talon remained on the shadows "They have all the ports under heavy guard, but I have secured a ship, Cassiopeia is there, but she is hurt" the words of the assassin made her fear for the condition of Cass "Take me there!" she commanded, to which the assassin just nodded and made a sign for her to follow.
Both went quickly under the streets of Noxus, a safer passage than been in sight at plain daylight, even considering the abominations below, Katarina knew the Noxian army will never dare to follow them here "Shhh!" Talon whispered, alerting her, the scent of the place was more a stench, not allowing Katarina the use of her highly developed senses "What is it?" she inquired Talon simply called her to be nearer "I heard something" he said once she was close enough.
Close enough for the hand that went for her chest, close enough for the illusion to fade and for Katarina to discover the trick too late, Talon form changed, revealing a white woman with black purplish hair an ornate crown adorned her head and the hand that was touching her turned into a staff with a crystal at the end, a crystal that engraved on her flesh causing her to bleed and feel pain, following with a discharge of energy that immobilized every single inch of her body, still conscious she gazed upon the deceiver, the face was easy to distinguish, the makeup, the regal pose, none other than Empress Emilia LeBlanc "Just smoke and mirrors darling" she said laughing, he consciousness slipped as the sound of metallic military boots reached her ears…
Yet as Katarina lost consciousness, far beyond Noxus in the fringe of Ionian space another person opened his eyes, virtually for the first time in 900 years, the blue eyes looked diferent, filled with something that was not there before, knowledge lost and recovered, a person that was two made one again.
"Sona! He is awake!" Lux yelled