Fracture
"Your growth is impressive, Syndra. Never before have I seen such a mage with so much innate talent before."
"Thank you... Master... I have learned much from you."
"And I trust that I will continue to see such progress from you."
"Yes master."
...
"Syndra?"
"..."
"Syndra."
"...Yes master?"
"I feel as though something is bothering you."
"..."
"Speak, young one, your master will answer your questions."
"..."
"No?"
"..."
"Perhaps another time then?"
"What have you done to me."
"Pardon?"
"What have you done to me?"
"My child, we have done nothing to you. We have only taught you how to properly use your abilities."
"..."
"Come Syndra, you can trust us."
"Then what have you done to me."
"We have done nothing to you, my child..."
"You're lying. Your pulse is racing. Your collar is damp with sweat. Your eyes are dilated... Dilated with fear..."
"I...I- We have done nothing! I swear on behalf of my honor!"
"You lie."
"Syndra, we-"
"Release me."
"..."
"Release me."
"..."
"I SAID RELEASE ME! NOW!"
"I cannot do that, Syndra. Not until you have learned restraint and control."
"HOW DARE YOU SHACKLE ME!"
"Syndra. Stop this. Now."
"I AM IN CONTROL! YOU ARE JUST JEALOUS THAT YOU LACK THE ABILITIES I HAVE!"
"Syndra. I said stop this."
"I WILL NOT BE RESTRAINED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!"
"SYNDRA! If you refuse to stop this instant, I WILL seal your powers entirely!"
"YOU DARE TO THREATEN ME!? YOU DARE BETRAY ME!? I HAVE DONE NOTHING TO DESERVE THIS TREATMENT! I WHO HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT USE THE GIFTS THAT HAVE BEEN BESTOWED UPON ME! I TRUSTED YOU!"
"And you should trust me still, Syndra."
"Then release me!"
"I cannot do that."
"..."
"Syndra... You can trust me... Your powers will be returned to you once you have learned control... Once you have learned restraint."
"..."
"I have done nothing to deserve this."
"This is but a precaution."
"Release me."
"No."
"Release. Me."
"No."
"THEN DIE! TRAITOR!"
"Syndra! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! NO!"
Syndra's eyes snapped open the moment she watched her former master die at her mercy. A frown crossed the sovereign's face as she bitterly recalled the memories of her betrayal. Sighing, the mage swiveled her head about, glancing about her. Again, she frowned; she was still in the hospital. The images she had seen were but a dream. Syndra glanced at the clock mounted on the wall off to her right.
8:30 PM.
Another day had passed.
Another day in which sleep eluded the sovereign's grasp. With the excessive amount of runes ingrained on her back, the thought of even laying down in hopes of rest were but a fantasy. Even when the tantalizing sands of sleep drifted into Syndra's consciousness, only the nightmares of her past were there to greet her. Syndra didn't know why those wretched memories of betrayal were surfacing now; neither did she care. All that mattered was-
-Knock-Knock-Knock-
Syndra stopped mid thought and turned her weary gaze to the door.
"What..." Syndra finally spoke, her voice rather quiet with her lack of rest.
"Umm... Can I come in?" A muffled voice spoke out from the other side of the door.
Syndra immediately recognized the voice. It was Irelia. Again. Despite being exhausted, Syndra mustered enough energy to frown in annoyance.
"No." She finally muttered. Her voice barely audible.
On the other side of the door, Irelia strained to hear the mage's reply. Alas, the sovereign had spoken too softly for Irelia's ears to pick up.
"I'm coming in alright?" Irelia finally spoke up and slowly pushed the door open.
Darkness met Irelia's eyes as she entered the room, closing the door behind her with a soft click. In the pale light of the moon, Irelia could vaguely make out Syndra's figure sitting in the same exact position as she was the day before; directly underneath the one window in the room.
"Why are all the lights off?" Irelia inquired lightly, trying to strike up a conversation.
Syndra ignored the warrior and muttered a question of her own.
"What's the point of asking if you can enter if you're going to enter regardless of what I say...?" Syndra questioned dully.
"Oh..." Irelia started, quickly assuming that Syndra had denied her entry into the room despite not hearing such a reply. "Sorry..." Irelia quickly added, hoping to diffuse Syndra's anger had her entry caused the mage to develop such an emotion.
Either way, Syndra lacked the energy to even reply to Irelia's apology. Instead, the mage turned her back to the warrior and refocused her haggard gaze back to the stars outside.
Awkwardly, Irelia cleared her throat and plopped herself down on a chair while her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room.
"So... feeling better?" Irelia asked, doing her best to sound friendly.
Per usual, Syndra ignored her.
"They said you weren't eating..." Irelia started, glancing at Syndra's back for some hint of recognition.
As usual, there was none.
"...So I brought you more food..." Irelia continued, clearly uncomfortable with the cold-shoulder Syndra was giving her.
Syndra heard the rustling of a plastic bag as Irelia placed the bag of food on the table.
Silence ensued for a minute as Irelia searched frantically for another topic to talk about. Though nothing came to her mind, Irelia quickly noticed Syndra's head slowly nodding off.
At long last, Irelia's eyes adjusted to the darkness well enough that she could make out the details of Syndra's form. From her position, Irelia could only see the mage's tangled mess of hair and slouched posture.
Abruptly, the runes on Syndra's back flashed, causing the mage's head to snap back up and dispelling the cloud of sleep that was descending upon her. Wearily, Syndra sighed and glanced behind her. She was briefly startled to find Irelia sitting behind her, but quickly remembered that the warrior had just entered the room. It quickly became clear that Syndra had not caught any amount of rest in the time that Irelia was gone.
"You look... Terrible..." Irelia finally spoke up after catching a glimpse of the sovereign's face. Even in the pale glow of the moon, Irelia could see the exhaustion in the Syndra's eyes.
"You always look terrible." Syndra fired back rudely, clearly annoyed by Irelia's comment. Irelia twitched slightly at Syndra's toxicity, but she ignored the statement.
"Not sleeping well?" Irelia asked, doing her best to sound friendly once more.
Syndra fixed Irelia with a gaze that asked "Are you retarded?" before turning back to the window and yawning widely.
"Something wrong?" Irelia quickly asked.
Syndra turned around and gave Irelia the exact same gaze again.
Irelia sighed exasperatedly before speaking up again.
"Look, I know you're not comfortable here, but that doesn't mean you have to fight me every step of the way. I'm just trying to make things a little more... bearable..." Irelia said, watching Syndra for some hint of acknowledgement.
"Things would be a lot more bearable if you just left me alone." Syndra replied, her voice dull and lacking any sort of enthusiasm.
"Well... someone has to take care of you if you won't even take care of yourself..." Irelia muttered.
"You consider your pestilence of me taking care of me?!" Syndra demanded angrily.
"Look, I'm just trying to help-"
"AND I DON'T NEED IT!" Syndra snarled furiously. The exhaustion in Syndra's face vanished, replaced with the familiar traces of anger. "MUCH LESS DO I NEED ANYTHING FROM YOU. IONIAN FREAK!" Syndra finished.
Beneath her passive face, Irelia could feel herself being rubbed the wrong way, but she quelled her own rising animosity and reminded herself that she owed the mage for saving her life.
"If my being an Ionian bothers you that much, then I will help you on the basis that you are injured." Irelia answered quietly.
Irelia's passivity only seemed to further infuriate Syndra, who was quite clearly trying to drive away the warrior with her rudeness.
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE?!" Syndra screamed, "LEAVE ME ALONE."
Syndra paused, panting for breath as she prepared her next outburst.
"I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU! YOU... AND YOUR COUNTRY! I HAVE EVERYTHING I WANT. EVERYTHING I NEED. I HAVE POWER, UNLIKE YOU..." Syndra yelled, unreasonably berating Irelia.
"But you don't even have that anymore." Irelia answered quietly as she made a pointed gesture at Syndra's back.
Instantly, Irelia knew she had unintentionally struck a nerve the moment she mentioned the sealing of Syndra's powers as Syndra grit her teeth in absolute fury. Rising from the bed, Syndra solidly planted her feet on the ground and balled her hands into fists; her knuckles turning white with the sheer amount of force she was putting on her hands. Behind her violet eyes, Irelia could see the swirling flames of rage rapidly consuming Syndra.
"You. Know. NOTHING!" Syndra howled and made a wild swing with her arm.
Despite having her powers nullified by the three runes in her back, Syndra forcefully called forth her magic; blindly releasing an unmeasured wave of energy at Irelia. Unwilling to back down, Irelia steeled herself and forcefully blocked the wave, absorbing the full impact of the blast with her right arm.
Moments after the wave dissipated, a loud cough met Irelia's ears. Lowering her guard, Irelia's eyes quickly refocused on the sovereign. After forcing her body to take such strains, Syndra staggered about drunkenly; her entire body reeling due to the shock that Syndra forced it through. Again, Syndra coughed heavily, this time bringing a hand up to her lip, the mage wiped a trickled of blood off of the corner of her lip using the back of her hand. Still panting from the strain, Syndra planted her hands on her knees, barely keeping herself upright through sheer willpower. Finally, after recovering slightly, Syndra returned her gaze to Irelia; fixing the Ionian with a glare of utter hatred.
Unfortunately, that was far from the end of Syndra's pains. After suppressing the sudden surge of magic in Syndra's body, the runes activated a second time, completely draining the sovereign of every single ounce of magic she had collected during her outburst. Instantly, Syndra felt her energy evaporate from her body, once again leaving her completely drained. Moments later, Syndra's shoulders sagged and her entire body gave out from beneath her. She fell, inexorably forward.
However, just as the mage fell, she was caught firmly in Irelia's strong grip. The contact briefly seemed to re-energize the mage as she instantly twisted violently, trying to free herself from Irelia's arms.
"Stop." Irelia stated flatly.
Syndra didn't listen and continued to thrash about.
"I SAID STOP." Irelia demanded firmly in a commanding tone. "You're hurting yourself!"
Finally, Syndra ceased her struggling and slouched limply in the warrior's arms.
For a few moments, neither of them made any movements. The only sound that pierced the air was that of Syndra's rapid and ragged panting. Irelia could feel the sovereign's pulse racing at inhuman levels as she supported the mage's limp form.
"L-...L-... Let go..." Syndra gasped, still intent on being free from the warrior's grip.
"I'm not going to just drop you on the floor." Irelia stated flatly with a hint of annoyance in her voice. With that, Irelia knelt down slightly. Placing one arm beneath Syndra's knees and the other arm behind her back, Irelia forcefully heaved Syndra up into her arms. If Syndra had any energy to lash out with, she would have undoubtedly done so. However, her current condition rendered her entirely helpless. She was at Irelia's complete mercy. The very thought of such a fact provoked a feeling deep within Syndra that she rarely ever felt.
Fear.
As Irelia lifted her up, Syndra could only wonder in dread of what fate had in store for her; what horrors Irelia would inflict on her.
But Irelia hardly shared the thoughts Syndra had running through her head. Instead, there was only one goal in Irelia's mind; to somehow placate the irrational mage.
After Irelia had Syndra balanced securely in her arms, the warrior moved forward a few steps, covering the distance that separated her and the hospital bed. Once she got there, Irelia leaned forward, finally laying the sovereign down on the bed as gently as possible.
The moment Irelia released her grip on Syndra, the mage bolted. Instantly jerking away and scrambling to the farthest corner of the bed where she curled her legs up to her chest and hid her face behind her knees. Needless to say, Irelia hardly expected such a reaction from the mage. Gazing quizzically at the sovereign, Irelia mustered the voice to speak.
"You alright?" Irelia inquired, legitimately concerned about the mage's state of being.
"Go away." Syndra spoke, her voice hardly even a whisper.
Although Syndra's two words were incredibly simple, they hid a more subtle undertone that, to Irelia, truly revealed what the mage was going through.
Stress.
The strain of being stripped of the one thing she could depend on was bearing its full burden on Syndra. It was a weight that was without a doubt cracking the very foundations of the mage's precarious mental state.
After a few moments of silence, Irelia sighed pensively and seated herself down on the foot of the bed.
"Not everyone in the world is out to get you, Syndra." Irelia finally spoke in a gentle voice. She paused briefly to allow the weight of her words to sink in. "And the burdens you bear do not have to be yours alone." Irelia continued as she stole a glance at the mage.
Syndra exhibited no signs of acknowledgement, remaining stalk still in her curled up position at the very corner of the bed.
Irelia swallowed hard, wondering if Syndra had finally cracked and gone insane.
"Syndra." Irelia called out lightly.
"..."
"Syndra...?" Irelia repeated again, encouragingly.
"... leave me alone..." the mage finally whispered.
"Relax."
"..."
"No one is going to hurt you here." Irelia stated in a soothing tone that definitely didn't suit her typically tough demeanor.
"You are here... You will hurt me... You must be destroyed before you hurt me..." Syndra whispered back in a cold, mechanical voice.
Irelia pursed her lips into a thin line. She wasn't speaking to Syndra anymore. She was speaking to the very essence of Syndra's beliefs. The scars on her psyche and the psychological damage done to her as a child were beginning to surface. Subconsciously, Irelia couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart. Only now did she realize that Syndra's isolation was due to her inability to put faith in anyone other than herself. The betrayal she experienced at such a young age left the mage damaged far beyond what Irelia had previously imagined.
Finally, Irelia rose from her position at the foot of Syndra's bed. There were two options before her. She could either leave the sovereign in the fractured state she was in, or she could try to reform the fragments into a whole once more. Irelia swallowed her doubts and turned to face the mage once more. For Irelia, there was only one choice. She was not the type to abandon a person in need. Steeling her will, Irelia erased all traces of doubt in her mind.
"I will not falter..." Irelia told herself until she was thoroughly convinced that it was true. At long last, Irelia moved around the bed until she was directly across from Syndra. Lifting a knee up onto the bed, Irelia slowly reached behind Syndra's knees, gently placing her hand underneath Syndra's chin and lifting it slightly so that the mage's face was no longer hidden behind her legs. As her gaze rose, Irelia found herself looking into the very depths of Syndra's lifeless eyes. Instantly, Syndra's eyes locked onto Irelia's gentle gaze, like a lost soul searching for a place to belong. Encouraged with her progress, Irelia lifted her other knee up onto the bed and coaxed Syndra to unfurl her legs with a mere touch of her fingers.
"Here goes nothing!" Irelia thought to herself. Abruptly, Irelia broke her slow and gentle motions and surged forward, catching Syndra in the most firm, yet most gentle hug Irelia could possibly muster. Instantly, Syndra's eyes widened in panic as fear surged into her mind. Syndra immediately felt the reflex to lash out to free herself.
...
And yet, she didn't. Within the depths of Syndra's restless mind, a piece of her felt comforted. It was an emotion that Syndra herself couldn't explain. Hesitantly, Syndra raised her arms, half way between striking the Ionian embracing her and half way between reflexively returning the embrace. Before Syndra's scrambled brain could make a decision as to what to do, however, Irelia moved again. Shifting her body around, Irelia swiftly seated herself beside the mage and leaned Syndra over her chest while keeping her arms wrapped around Syndra in a protective embrace. With Syndra's head resting on her chest, Irelia tilted her head slightly so that her mouth was beside the sovereign's ear.
"You're safe..." Irelia whispered gently. "I will protect you..."
Beneath Irelia's embrace, Syndra stiffened briefly. Her gaze was blank; stunned and confused by the swirling hurricane of emotions swimming around in her mind. Briefly, Irelia squeezed the mage tightly, increasing the Syndra's perceived sense of "protection". Finally, Syndra replied to Irelia's statement.
"But... I don't need... protection..." Syndra whispered, still dazed with her emotions and delirious with her lack of sleep.
Irelia couldn't help but smile at Syndra's reflexive response to her statements.
"Of course you don't..." Irelia whispered back gently before leaning the mage back again into a more comfortable position. "But whenever you do..." Irelia allowed her voice to trail off without finishing her statement.
Instantly, Syndra felt her exhaustion rapidly catch up with her. The anger and fear she experienced slowly dissipated as her restless thoughts fell at ease. With the tendrils of sleep reaching for her mind, Syndra blinked slowly; her eyelids suddenly feeling incredibly heavy. Caught between the warmth of Irelia's embrace and the steady, lulling pulse of the warrior's heartbeat, her eyes finally fluttered to a close. Minutes later, the mage was finally at peace. Resting in the depths of dreamless sleep that had eluded her for days.
Irelia stayed still in her position for a good thirty minutes after she was sure that Syndra was asleep. It was a good time for the warrior herself to sort out her own emotions. But alas, even thirty minutes was barely enough for Irelia to scratch the surface of her own feelings. Heaving a sigh, Irelia brushed aside her thoughts and gently shifted her position until she was free of Syndra's unconscious form. Gently laying down the mage on the bed, Irelia tucked the hospital blankets around the mage as best she could before finally standing up and moving to the door. Irelia glanced back one last time before opening the door. She smiled slightly as she fixed her gaze on Syndra's sleeping face. The mage seemed significantly more attractive when a scowl or frown wasn't plastered across her face. Finally, Irelia exited the room and closed the door behind her. Only then did she lean back on the door and sink down into a sitting position. Heaving an unusually exhausted sigh, Irelia cleared her thoughts and wiped a bead of sweat off her brow with her right arm. She winced slightly as her arm made contact with her forehead. Glancing down, Irelia finally noticed the large magic burn on her arm. Exasperated, Irelia sighed and smiled wryly to herself.
"So that's how it's going to be huh..." Irelia muttered with the smile still on her face. With that, Irelia pushed herself back to her feet and swiftly made her way back to her home. Not a single ounce of concern crossed the warrior's mind.
Author's Notes:
Hello again readers, here we are with the seventh chapter of this series. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I originally had this chapter slated for a significantly smaller length, but I felt like that didn't really do either character justice in showing how the relationship was building up. If you think Syndra is cracking a little bit too quickly, rest assured, she isn't going to change that easily. As always, thank you all for reading and leave any reviews if you have comments/thoughts/criticism/questions etc...
Hope to see you all in the next installment!