Soraka staggered through the empty forest. The forest, unlike the grove she had lived in for centuries, looked dark and foreign to her in the moonlight. She staggered through the trees before collapsing in a clearing.

She was injured…..

He had done this to her. The man called Warwick, the one who had shown up begging for his dead wife to be saved, the one who she had trusted and the one she thought was a friend...

It had all been an elaborate ruse. When she used her healing powers for violence, blinding the men who had attacked him, the stars had taken her powers away, and when she healed his injuries...

"Die bitch!"

He had plunged the dagger into her chest but she had just managed to cast her remaining shreds of magic on him, but now her magic had gone….

And there was nowhere to go.

Her last thought before collapsing was that if she died, she might never join the stars in the sky.

KYAAAH!

Irelia swung her blade directly at the man standing in front of her with a shot that usually could have resulted in death had it been intended, but instead the young man simply dodged to one side and calmly parried the blow with his sword. Calmly putting his sword down he asked:

"Could you possibly have been any slower?"

She sighed. "Could you have possibly been paying any less attention?"

"I was paying attention"

"Then why did my strike nearly kill you?"

"Because it took so long to finish I thought training was over"

"Very funny"

"I know"

"And if you don't start acting like Father we're going to throw you in the dungeon for being a spy Zelos"

Zelos threw his hands up in the air in response "Sisters…" and walked off, leaving Irelia to walk alongside the fortifications and towards the Placidium. She had her father's control and piercing eyes and her mothers hair, while her brother Zelos had his father's grace and figure but was just….reckless. Their mother had died when they were both very young, but her father often said Zelos had her personality, presumably as a sort of compliment. Some of the nobles that were less than friendly with her brother called him stupid and arrogant, but never within his earshot. Not that he would have cared. Having reached the Placidium Irelia immediately went to find a table at the tea gardens, only to find somebody she already knew sitting at one of the tables.

"Mistress Karma! It's an honour to meet you here!"

Karma was sitting at one of the tables, dressed in her ornate black and white gown that she usually wore. One of the two fans that she always carried was in her lap, the other one was unseen, but Irelia stopped herself from asking where it was.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well Captain Irelia, although if I am correct I believe I should be honouring your presence."

"Even though you are far more important to Ionia than I am?"

"I shall earn my true ranking with time."

"So what brings you to the tea gardens of all places? Did you wish to discuss something with me?"

"I was discussing with the elders about the possibility of an alliance with Demacia. If we were to work together with them…."

"Father and the elders would never stand for that. It would be an incitement of war!"

"It would be an attempt at protection! If the Noxians invade…"

"The Noxians have no advantage to gain if they invade us. You know this!"

"And you think that will stop them?"

"Yes."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then may the celestials help us." Irelia stood up.

"I'm going to visit my father. Have you visited him?"

Karma stood up courteously. "Yes, although….. His condition isn't getting any better. The doctors still have no idea what it is I'm afraid."

"Thank-you Mistress Karma"

"My pleasure Captain Irelia"

Karma waited until Irelia had gone and then sighed. So stubborn. But she was like her father in a lot of ways. And Ionia did need people that would defend it against an invasion. She just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Irelia had hated infirmaries for as long as she could remember. Every time she visited one could feel the fear and the suffering of the patients inside. I need to visit at least once. For fathers sake. Trying to remain calm, she walked up to the reception desk, dimly aware of the crowd gathering around it.

"Excuse me…..Can you tell me which room Master Lito is in?"

"I'm sorry, there aren't any visitors allowed on that floor right now. You're his….."

"Daughter. And I really have to go see him. Is it impossible?"

Irelia removed some gold pieces and placed them on the reception desk.

"Well I guess I can let you up... as long as you're quiet. There's been an incident in one of the rooms."

Irelia had already moved up the staircase but still turned around to call out a faint "Thanks."

Arriving at her Father's room Irelia was immediately relieved to find someone she already knew inside her father's room.

"Aunt Akemi!"

"Irelia! How nice to see you again!"

"…..Is father OK?"

"I'm sorry. The doctors….still have no idea what's causing the disease."

"Is he awake?"

"He's sleeping right now. Do you want me to stay a little longer?"

"I think you've probably been here long enough." Just as Akemi was about to leave Irelia remembered what she was going to ask her "Before you leave, did anything unusual happen while you were up here?"

"Some of the city guards came up here and tried to move Lito….I told them they'd have to move me first. So they left us alone."

Irelia paused, which Akemi used as her excuse to leave. Something about this didn't seem right. If there was an incident Akemi would have noticed, but she hadn't mentioned anything. So why was the entire floor being cordoned off? There was something going on here but…. Suddenly Irelia became aware of how tired she was. "Well I'm comfortable here and it's not like there's anything happening right now so I guess….a bit of a nap….couldn't hurt…..

Irelia awoke to darkness. Complete darkness surrounded her, clouding her senses. She moved forwards, slowly searching for the light switch. Then something moved directly behind her. She turned around. "Father? Is that you?" Then she saw it. A bloody bed sheet. "Oh no" She moved to grab her weapon but the assassin grabbed it and ran it straight into her stomach. "NOT GOOD ENOUGH." Irelia slowly dropped to the ground in pain, watching as the assassin took off their hood only to find the assassin….was her.

Then everything went white.

Irelia was floating, although where she was she wasn't exactly sure. She was in some sort of snow covered mountain range, floating about 50 metres off the ground just next to the top of a cliff face. Then the rider appeared, on one of the most beautiful horses she had ever seen. As the rider appeared she was stunned to realise that she recognised him "Zelos?" "What are you….WATCH OUT!" An arrow struck Zelos in the arm as he dived for cover. "STOP THE INFILTRATOR!" "FOR NOXUS!" The first, largest man charged Zelos, swinging his two handed axe, only for it to be blocked by Zelos' sword. The first man used his brute strength however, simply knocking the sword out of Zelos' hands . Turning around he screamed at the defenceless Zelos "NOW YOU DIE FOOL!" And just as he raised his axe to kill Zelos, Irelia saw a massive wall of snow crashing towards them….

"Zelos!"

Thud

"Zelos?"

Irelia woke up, startled. Quickly checking that she had her weapon and that her father was safe, she pinched herself just to be sure it wasn't a dream. It wasn't. Then she heard it. The same sound from her dream, except this time she heard it coming from another hospital room down the hall. Which was strange, because the entire floor was meant to be empty. Then she heard it again, except with muffled screams.

That must be the same person who caused the incident before

The incident that the city guards decided to handle.

The incident that meant all the poor people got moved while my influential father gets to stay behind….

Time to see what the government is hiding.

Irelia walked silently down the hallway, opened the door to the room the banging came from and found herself staring directly at the thing whatever it was, that laid in the hospital bed.

And the creature stared directly back.