Introducing an OC in this chapter, just felt like adding one in :D Sorry for the long wait, had a bit of writers block.

Swain's office was crowded as the meeting began. Marcus had insisted that they finish watching the entertainment and discuss what he had been through when they returned to Swain's office. Darius was once again half hidden in the shadows, watching over his master. Talon and Markus stood opposite Swain. Swain was slouched in his chair, rubbing his temples with his right hand while stroking Beatrice with his left. As she nuzzled his hand, faint magical energy flowed between the two, further increasing the link that the two contained. "Swain?" a voice asked and Swain's head jerked up, the sensation of the bond between him and his bird always seemed to lull Swain.

"I am listening." Swain said.

"As I was saying," said Marcus, "I was contacted by the Black Rose 2 years ago. A letter arrived at the household asking me to join their organisation. It detailed what they were doing and why they felt I should join them. The letter stated that if I didn't respond to them within a week, me and my family would die. Obviously, I wasn't afraid, but curious. They would threaten to kill me? They must have a lot of faith in their abilities. I decided that I should accept their offer and see who they were and what they were doing. I did not tell anyone as I wanted to keep them safe, these people seemed dangerous. Anyway, when I arrived at the designated located, I met a woman. She is in charge of the Black Rose."

"Who is this woman?" Darius asked.

"Her name is Leblanc." Markus answered, causing a wave of recognition to sweep across Swain's face. "I see you know of her Swain."

"Yes. I do."

"How do you know about her sir?" Darius asked.

"Before I became the Grand General, I was contacted by Leblanc. I knew about the Black Rose then, and she told me that they wanted me to succeed Darkwill. However, when I became Grand General they seemingly disappeared." Swain turned to Marcus. "What was she like?"

"A very cold woman."

"And she's back..." Swain trembled as he reached under the table to find Beatrice, and she rubbed herself against his hand, the energy flowing through him and strengthening his resolve. "Talon." He said suddenly. Talon looked towards him. He had spent the entire meeting slouched against the wall, studying General Du Couteau.

"What?" he asked, his disrespect heavy in his voice.

"Noxus asks a favour from you and Katarina." Swain said. "You must find Leblanc, and kill her. She is a threat to Noxus, especially with the stolen documents."

"Consider her dead."

"Good, you may leave."

"You must not be cocky Talon. Leblanc is a formidable adversary with power that rivals even Swain's." Talon glanced at Marcus as they approached the Du Couteau household. He had definitely aged in the two years since he had last seen him. There were more grey hairs sprinkled across his black hair and more wrinkles were plastered across his face. Talon opened his mouth to reply, when he was cut off by a shout from across the lawn.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Marcus jumped with surprise as his head snapped to the voice. His eyes followed to see a snake like creature advancing towards him. His mouth transformed into a smile as he recognised who it was.

"Hello Cassiopeia." Marcus said. "It has been too long."

"DAMN RIGHT IT HAS!" She screamed, a hissing noise enwrapping her speech. "WHERE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

"Come inside Cass, I'll tell you everything." As he led here inside, Katarina put a hand on Talon's shoulder, pushing him after them. When they were inside, Talon turned around and stopped Katarina from progressing.

"Katarina, Swain has a mission for us."

"What is it?"

"We are required to eliminate the head of an organization called the 'Black Rose'. The leader is called Leblanc; she is supposedly a powerful adversary."

"Well, let's not waste any time, where do we start?"

"From what I have been able to gather, the Black Rose has members infiltrated into the Noxian high command, either as soldiers or even maybe council members themselves."

"Who do you suspect?"

"Well, Swain was once a member of the Black Rose before he became the Grand General. If we can identify who he was in contact with during that time period, we might find a lead."

"So, you have it planned out, as usual."

"Of course I have." Talon said. "Now, we should get going."

"Wait," said a voice behind them. They turned to see Marcus watching them. "Later today, I will be at the Noxian high command for the council meeting. Make sure you are there, you may be called upon." Nodding their understanding, Talon and Kat left the household, once again heading to the Noxian high command.

Kelik Rirturing stood to attention as Darius inspected his squad. Nodding with approval, he moved on to the next and his entire unit breathed a sigh of relief. No one wanted to annoy Darius, his reputation was legendary. Kelik looked over his six men and three women that made up his squad, pride swelling through his veins. They were the best of the best, the Crimson Elite. There unit was set up by Swain during the Ionian war as his personal bodyguard and front-line unit. After the war, they retained as being Swain's guard, until he became the Grand General and the Crimson Elite were elevated to the command squad if the military. Their past members included legendary assassins such as Katarina and Talon, but also shameful traitors such as Riven, who had one into exile during the Ionian war. His thoughts were shook from his mind as Darius returned, and dismissed them. They marched back to the Barracks and deposited there ceremonial armour at their dorms. They changed into more practical gear and made they met up outside the barracks. "Is everyone ready and kitted out?" Kelik asked.

"Yes sir." one of the women, Mogne replied.

"Ok, today we are on Guard duty during the council meeting. The Grand General requires a show of strength during the meeting, to keep the treacherous politicians from trying something." The whole squad sighed inwardly; they hated this kind of duty. They hated being paraded about by Swain during these meetings. "Remember; don't be too hard on the members of the council. We are officially there on security business, so don't threaten the people we are supposed to be protecting."

"Who are we expecting to be there?" Asked another of the unit, Tulkon.

"All nine members of the council are expected, as well as their own security. Keep an eye on them."

"Anything else sir?" Asked another man, Dalgash.

"Yes, the Grand General is the priority. In the unlikely event of an attack, protect him at all costs." Kelik waited for any other questions. None came. "Right, let's move out."

"Sir." Darius stated, entering through Swain's office door. Swain looked up. "Dr Xavier Rath and Singed have arrived."

"Let them in." Swain leaned back in his chair as he thought about what was about to happen. Xavier was an infamous doctor from Zaun that was famous for his dark experiments. He had brought Singed with him, a chemical genius who had almost won the war against Ionia with his chemical weapons. They were most likely here to discuss future relations between Noxus and Zaun. The two cities had always a friendly relationship; Noxus was all but keen to let the mad geniuses that came from Zaun to conduct their experiments in Noxus. One such example was Doctor Mundo, who the Noxus had gifted a laboratory in Noxus to help him with his goal of creating a super soldier for the battlefield.

The door opened and Xavier entered. His pale skin was shrivelled, caused by abuse of "Shimmer," and was wrapped up in a robe. Most of his body was encased in this robe, making it difficult to make out his shape. He was dwarfed by Singed, who entered next to him. Singed was wearing dark red armour, with bandages obscuring most of his face. His hair was almost non-existent, having been burned out in a failed experiment. Swain stood up to greet these men, firmly gripping Xavier's hand as they shook. "Gentlemen." Swain said, "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Grand General, it is an honour." Xavier said, bowing before him. "We are here today to ask a favour from Noxus, one which could help Noxus massively.

"I'm listening." Swain said with an inward sigh. He already knew what his answer would be. He hated people like Xavier, trying to suck up to him to win a favour.

"Well, as you know Zaun has a very relaxed set of rules when it comes to experimentation. However, even they don't like what we are doing. We are asking that we set up a laboratory in the Noxus slums. We believe that we are on the edge of creating a new breed of chemical warfare, and we humbly ask that we are able to experiment on the slum dwelle..."

"No." interrupted Swain, his voice cold.

"What?"

"You are not experimenting on Noxus citizens."

"Citizens? I am talking about the slum dogs. What use are they to you?"

"Watch your tongue, Xavier." Swain said. "Times are changing. Noxus's power no longer comes from family names. It comes from strength, and every man and woman who lives in the Noxus slums has more strength running through their veins then you could ever hope to have. Now get out."

"B-but."

"Out!" Swain shouted. Xavier started to raise an argument, but it died in his throat. He turned around and stormed out the office. Singed turned to Swain and spoke for the first time.

"You missed out there Swain." Without another word, he left Swain's office.

Next chapter is when it gets real :D