Warm Winter
Winter turned Ionia into a bitterly cold land. Those who had the means to stay indoors did everything in their abilities to stay there. Those who were less fortunate, did their best to stay alive. Rarely did anyone venture out of the safety of their warm homes. In rare cases, however, the cold did little to hinder the travels of the determined. Such was the case with Irelia and Syndra.
Irelia awoke alone on her couch. A blanket tucked snugly about her form, staving off the cold from lancing into her body. Unfortunately, even a blanket could not block out the piercing cold when the front door was left ajar.
Rising from her sleep, Irelia brought a hand up to her eyes in attempt to rub away the vestiges of sleep that lingered.
"Syndra?" Irelia murmured softly, hoping that the mage would answer her.
She didn't.
Another draft of frigid winter air wafted into her home, causing Irelia to involuntarily shiver. After a few moments, the warrior drew herself to her feet before stooping over and grabbing the blanket from off the couch. Out of sheer habit, Irelia shuffled over to the stove and plunked a kettle filled with water onto the surface. Minutes later, it was boiling with warmth. Eager to have another method to escape the cold, Irelia promptly pulled two cups from a nearby cabinet along with a package of milk and chocolate. Steaming hot chocolate was ready in both cups in hardly any time. Finally, Irelia pulled a small tray out of a nearby shelf along with a small bag of cookies.
Shivering again, Irelia turned her head to the open door and bit her lip. Something told her Syndra was out there, alone in the cold. After a few moment's pause, the warrior finally steeled herself for the wall of cold she was about to walk straight into. Alas, her desire to be alongside the mage trumped her distaste for the cold.
With a tray in hand, climbing onto the roof of her house would have required far too much effort. Instead, Irelia used her blade as a platform to carry herself up onto the snow covered roof. Sure enough, Syndra was there; staring off into the distance at something only her eyes could see. Worse yet, the sovereign neglected to wear clothing more suitable to her current situation. She remained clad in the silky thin dress that she had fallen asleep in.
Shuffling up behind the mage, Irelia stooped slightly to hand the sovereign a glass of hot chocolate. Syndra was so lost in her own thoughts that it took her a good minute to notice Irelia's pro-offered gift. None the less, she accepted it wordlessly; instinctively cupping both hands around the cup as to absorb as much heat as possible. With a small, understanding smile on her face, Irelia wordlessly seated herself beside the mage, taking a moment to unfurl her blanket and wrap it around the sovereign as well as herself.
The two Ionians sat in silence for several minutes. Neither one willing to break the peace nor willing to diminish the warmth between them. At long last, Syndra drained the remaining hot chocolate in her glass and spoke.
"Let's go..." Syndra murmured into Irelia's ear before unfurling her hands and wrapping her arms around the warrior in a warm hug.
Words were unnecessary as Irelia unconditionally accepted Syndra's desires. Even in the sub freezing temperature, Irelia was more than willing to accompany the mage to wherever it was she needed to go...
As the pair of Ionians made their way down one of the countless winding roads in the Ionian capital city, a familiar silence settled down upon them. It wasn't an unpleasant silence. It was merely an anxious one; one that foreshadowed the events to come. Irelia, however, was unwilling to allow such a sullied atmosphere to ruin their bonding experience. To her, the sovereign was like a mystery. The scraps of memories that the mage fed her only served to make her ravenous for more. It was such a painful past, one marred with such distrust and solitude. It was one that Irelia planned to put an end to. After a few minutes of silence punctuated only by the crunching sound of snow beneath booted feet, Irelia finally spoke up.
"Syndra..." Irelia whispered quietly so that no one would hear the mage's actual name.
Syndra turned and blinked at the warrior expectantly. The move brought the mage's entire form into view, allowing Irelia a full inspection of how she looked in winter clothing. Seeing as how Syndra neglected to buy clothes suitable to such cold weather, she was forced to borrow some of Irelia's clothing. Surprisingly, the mage didn't complain about having to wear such clothing. Perhaps even more surprising was the fact that she didn't complain about how... snug... the clothing was on her curvaceous form.
Her cheeks pinking slightly, Irelia finally spoke.
"Do you..." Irelia hesitated, unsure of how to continue.
Syndra, however, gave the warrior an uncharacteristic amount of patience in waiting for her to finish speaking.
"Y'know, like how you've talked about your past... do you..." Irelia continued to stutter and hesitate.
"Would I like to hear your past." Syndra finally finished for the warrior in a concise manner.
Irelia bit her lip sheepishly and nodded.
Syndra moved closer to Irelia and wrapped her arms around the warrior in a tight embrace.
"Of course..." Syndra whispered into Irelia's ear, simultaneously resting her chin on the warrior's shoulder.
After the sovereign released her, Irelia drew in a deep breath. Despite her offer, she hadn't actually put any thought into where she should begin. Thankfully, Syndra helped her.
"You were born in..." Syndra pushed with an expectant tone.
Irelia blushed openly and finished the mage's sentence.
"Here" Irelia quickly continued, "I was born here."
Syndra smiled encouragingly, knowing that talking about the past was, to the very least, awkward for the both of them.
"I... Well... I was born into a small family. Mom died when I was young, so I only knew dad... And Zelos..." Irelia looked away with a wistful glimmer in her eye.
Being unfamiliar with recognizing other people's emotions, Syndra unintentionally forced Irelia to continue.
"At least you know who your family is..." The mage commented in a sideways manner.
Irelia twitched slightly and glanced at the sovereign, almost hurt by her comment. After a few moments, however, Irelia realized that it wasn't anger that laced the sovereign's voice... It was jealousy.
Irelia instinctively wrapped her arms around the mage in a comforting gesture.
"Probably better that I don't know them." Syndra spat darkly after a few moments, "If I met them, I would kill them. Crush them like ants beneath my feet."
Irelia flinched and frowned sadly at the sovereign's words. It had been a while since she had heard such violent words from the mage's mouth. Alas, Syndra sighed and allowed Irelia to continue recalling her past.
It took the warrior a few moments to continue, as she was temporarily distracted with entertaining the idea of how Syndra might have grown up had she actually had the loving, guiding hand of a parent to help her grow.
"You were saying?" The mage pushed forward, sounding mildly eager to escape the cloud of jealousy enveloping her.
"Oh..." Irelia quipped, shaking her head slightly to dispel her distracting thoughts. "Well... When I was young, I went to a school just down the road east of here. Nothing really interesting happened there though, it was just school."
The warrior paused for a moment before heaving a heavy sigh and continuing.
"Everything changed after father fell ill though." Irelia said with a twinge of sadness in her voice. "He had a very rare disease... No one, not even Soraka, had ever seen such a disease. As far as we knew, there wasn't a cure..."
Irelia paused again, this time with a small sniffle. When Syndra glanced at over at the warrior, the sovereign could see tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Awkwardly, the mage tried to comfort Irelia with a small pat on the shoulder, but her efforts failed miserably as she was never one to be good at easing the pains of other people. None the less, Irelia rewarded the mage with a smile; appreciating the sentiment behind her actions.
"After father passed..." Irelia broke off with another sniffle before forcing herself to continue again, "things were normal for a while..." Irelia's face hardened as she recalled her bitter memories. "Then Noxus invaded. Those bastards took everything." Irelia spat with subdued fury.
Syndra looked up briefly at that. It was rare that the warrior was driven to such lengths of anger.
"I never saw so many people die before... We lost so many... They didn't care. Women... Children... Sick... Elderly... Disabled... Those god damn Noxians murdered everything." Irelia growled darkly.
Syndra blinked with mildly conflicting feelings. On one hand, the fact that Ionians were dying sounded more than appealing to her. However, seeing Irelia upset to such a degree almost entirely erased her delight. Before Syndra could voice her conflicted emotions, however, Irelia's face twisted into a livid scowl.
"... They took my brother from me." Irelia finally finished through gritted teeth. In her voice and expression, an infinite amount of pain, loss, and anger visibly flared.
Syndra was left speechless. It had finally dawned upon her. Irelia had nothing left; nobody remained behind her. Almost everything she once held dear to her heart had been ripped from her hands. Everything except for the one thing she could call a home. That was why she defended her land to such zeal. Ionia was all she had left.
Lost in thought, Syndra temporarily stopped paying attention to her surroundings; mindlessly trudging forward like a programmed machine. It wasn't until Irelia reached out and caught the sovereign by the hand that Syndra stopped in her plodding march.
"Hey..." Irelia called out softly, "do you mind if we stop here...?" Irelia asked. Her voice was surprisingly shy and soft as opposed to the dark and brooding tone from just a few minutes before.
Syndra blinked and immediately nodded.
Still maintaining her gentle grasp on Syndra's hand, Irelia guided the mage through a small path off to the side of the main road they were traveling down.
"Here..." Irelia finally sighed as the path opened up into a small clearing.
In the very middle of the clearing sat a small shrine with two objects standing atop pedestals inside.
Finally releasing the sovereign's hand, Irelia alone stepped into the shrine. Balling her right hand into a fist, the warrior knelt down on a knee and folded her arm to her chest. Traditional Ionian salute as usual. After a few moments, she rose to her feet and spoke.
"Dad... Zelos..." Irelia called out softly, her voice constricting slightly with emotion, "I hope you're doing well up there..." The rest of the warrior's words were lost to the wind as she lowered her voice to a bare whisper.
Amidst the exchange, Syndra stopped paying attention to Irelia, wanting to give the warrior her privacy. Out of the corner of her eye, however, a sudden glimmer caught the mage's eye. Focusing her attention on the object, Syndra quickly recognized the small item.
It was a weapon.
It was Irelia's weapon.
Or rather, a carbon copy of the warrior's blades.
Unable to withhold her curiosity, the mage spoke up.
" 'relia..." The mage started with slight hesitation. "Why is there..." Syndra broke off without finishing.
Irelia, however, merely turned and glanced at the object that Syndra as referring to. When she caught sight of the blade, the warrior balked; her face paling slightly.
"I..." Irelia started, but immediately hesitated.
"I..." She repeated again.
Finally, Syndra recognized the warrior's discomfort and spoke up.
"You don't have to-"
"I'm supposed to be laying here with them." Irelia finally finished, interrupting Syndra in the middle of her words.
Syndra blinked uncomprehendingly.
"I died." Irelia stated in the most blunt and direct fashion possible.
Syndra blinked again and bit her lip worriedly.
"But you're right here?" Syndra finally questioned.
Heaving an uncharacteristically anxious breath, Irelia mustered the nerve to speak of her death.
"Do you... recognize this?" Irelia inquired, flicking her hand upwards and causing the large sword floating by her side to snap up to her side.
Syndra nodded mutely and turned her gaze to stare at the massive blade.
Taking a finger, Irelia made a small pointing motion at the center of the blades where a single, glowing orb hovered; acting as a center mass joint for the entire blade.
"That's me..." Irelia with a rather anxious edge to her voice. "Or at least it's what my soul is tethered to..."
Syndra bit her lip and shuffled closer to Irelia and the blade beside her. Reaching out hesitantly, the sovereign spoke out in an unusually tentative voice.
"Can I?" Syndra asked shyly, her hand a more inches from the floating orb.
Irelia smiled at the sovereign's gentility before nodding slightly.
"Does it hurt?" Syndra whispered as she gently laid a single finger on the orb's surface before promptly backing away.
Irelia shook her head and let out a rather relieved sigh. Though the warrior knew that Syndra wouldn't regard her as a freak after finding out that she was technically non-living, she couldn't help but feel a certain degree of relief seeing the mage accept her differences so readily.
"How did you..." Syndra started, but didn't finish. Her voice suddenly constricting as she considered how her warrior met her demise.
Irelia blanched and hesitated as the sovereign once again pushed closer to the topics she tended to avoid. Alas, Irelia's desire to share her feelings with someone won out over her fear.
"I..." Irelia hesitated again, "I..."
Wordlessly, Syndra shuffled up behind Irelia and wrapped her arms around the warrior; resting her chin on the warrior's shoulder as she gently guided Irelia over to the one bench in the shrine. Unlike the last time she attempted to comfort Irelia and failed, this time, Irelia openly allowed herself to be enveloped by the warmth of Syndra's body. Finally, she mustered the will to speak once more.
"It happened when Noxus took its closest point to our capital... Our elders... They had seen enough of our people die, they wanted to surrender to Noxians demands... To submit to the will of those bloodthirsty savages!"
Irelia paused to take a breath while she cast a bitter glance at the two graves in the shrine.
"I knew better though... I knew that even if we surrendered to those Noxians, they wouldn't spare our people any quandary. They only care about the strong. They would have killed everyone anyways. They would have killed anyone that didn't swear loyalty to them! THEY WOULD HAVE BURNED OUR COUNTRY TO THE GROUND!" Irelia finished with a heated snarl.
"I did the only thing I could." Irelia finally continued, her tone abruptly calm and collected. "I took my father's sword... And I stood at the front gates to the capital. I vowed that I wouldn't move until I was dead."
"My... Foolishness... Got me what I wanted, I guess..." Irelia said wryly, "Almost the entire Ionian army stood beside me... Rallied behind one tiny fifteen year old girl..."
Irelia paused once more as she relived her memories again.
"Got me what I wanted..." Irelia repeated hollowly. "It also got the Noxians what they wanted. Fish in a barrel. They bombed us."
Irelia shuddered involuntarily as she recalled vivid images of her fellow Ionians burning and melting into piles of ash as Noxians artillery bombarded them.
"I survived it, believe it or not..." Irelia spoke up with a sharp laugh that held no humor behind it. "Survived it just to have a Noxian sword plunge into my back and pierce my heart... I lost track of how many times they hit me. Stabbed me. Beat me. The last thing I could remember was feeling angry that I couldn't at least take one of them with me..."
Irelia took another pause to catch her breath. After a few moments, she continued.
"That wasn't the end though. After everything turned black, I heard a voice call out to me. I couldn't feel anything. I was just... just floating. Floating between a bright white and a pitch black. Then the voice called out to me again. It asked me whether or not I was ready to move on..." Irelia licked her dry lips in a brief pause, "God knows I wasn't. I answered no. I screamed it. Cursed it. Begged the voice to let me go back... It did exactly that. Next thing I knew, Soraka's face was floating above me. She was crying over me, shaking me and begging me to wake up."
Irelia laughed as she recalled the shock in Soraka's face when she did just that...
And more...
"When I finally got my bearings straight, I kinda pushed her aside... Or at least I tried to..." Irelia chuckled wryly. "I guess it would be a whole lot more fitting to say that I practically chucked her off me. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I remember feeling fantastic. I wasn't tired or worn out like I was before I got 'killed'."
Irelia hesitated as she set her memories straight.
"What I did next, I also don't remember either... It was instinctive... I saw Noxians. I saw red. Their red."
Irelia took a breath and ran a hand through her hair.
"Next thing I knew, I was the only one standing there. There were bodies everywhere. I smelled horrible... I smelled like blood... I was covered in it... Well... at least that made the Noxians back off for a long while. The rest after that is pretty much in the books. You can read about it if you like." Irelia finally finished.
Glancing to her side, Irelia caught a glimpse of a completely motionless Syndra. The warrior smiled as she looked into the depths of the sovereign's purple eyes; so lost in thought that they stared blankly ahead.
Or so Irelia thought.
Seconds later, there was an audibly loud and distinct cracking sound. Surprised, Irelia jumped slightly and glanced around, searching for the source of the sound. Finally settling her eyes on Syndra once more, Irelia found a horridly twisted scowl of livid hatred painted across the sovereign's face. The sound had originated from the sheer amount of force Syndra was putting on the stone bench they were sitting on; gripping the edge of the bench in a death grip so strong that her clawed hands were digging into the stone surface.
"Syndra?" Irelia questioned hesitantly. "Syndra! It's okay! I'm okay-"
"I have more things to kill." Syndra interrupted darkly through gritted teeth.
Irelia let out a subdued sigh before allowing herself the slightest of all smiles. Though the sovereign had a rather twisted way of expressing herself, it was more than clear that the mage was exhibiting the protective side of her personality.
Irelia was now included under that protection.
Reaching out, Irelia scooted closer to the mage and leaned her head over onto the mages shoulder.
"Thanks..." Irelia whispered softly, unable to find anything better to say.
Finally, the sensation of Irelia leaning on her snapped the mage out of her daze. Taking a breath, the sovereign unclenched her muscles and relaxed. A few minutes of silence passed until the sovereign spoke once more.
"Let's go..."
Although she had initially planned to take Irelia to the original site of the temple where she lived the majority of her life, Syndra found her desire to return to such a place greatly diminished after hearing Irelia's past. Instead, the sovereign opted to return to the cozy warmth of Irelia's home. The pair made the entire trip in silence until they arrived at the home and Irelia shut the door behind them.
"Sorry..." Irelia suddenly blurted out as she awkwardly shuffled forwards and stoked the wood in the fireplace; rekindling the house's primary source of warmth.
Syndra blinked as she watched Irelia hurry about in attempt to distract herself.
"Sorry for what?" Syndra questioned blankly.
Irelia paused in her hurrying and faced the mage with a rather guilty look in her eyes.
"You wanted to go to the monastery right?" Irelia asked, tapping the toe of her boot on the floor awkwardly, "That's where the temple that you lived at used to be isn't it?"
Syndra blinked again, surprised with how Irelia guessed exactly what she had planned.
"Uhm.. Yeah... I guess..." Syndra finally stammered out before regaining her composure.
Abruptly, the sovereign's features changed into a rather twisted smile.
Irelia recognized the look and grabbed a pillow off of the nearby couch to defend herself.
Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. Just as her hand closed on the fluffy object, powerful purple magic bonds sprung around her arms and snapped both of her wrists together. Slowly, the ropes wrapped out around her body until Irelia couldn't even wiggle a limb.
"Dammit Syndra!" Irelia grunted out between struggling gasps of air. "I'll get you next time!"
Syndra cackled with enjoyment before using a finger to push the helpless Irelia down onto the couch.
The warrior grunted as she fell helplessly onto the plush surface; her face blushing openly with what she expected Syndra to do to her. Much to her surprise, and perhaps her disappointment however, Syndra snapped her fingers and instantly dispelled the magical bonds.
Blinking, Irelia glanced up at the sovereign with a questioning gaze.
Syndra didn't meet her gaze. Instead, only a conflicted and hesitant expression flickered through her eyes as she stared into the dancing flames in the fireplace.
"Syndra...?" Irelia whispered at the mage, gently tugging Syndra's hand to pull her down beside her on the couch.
"I don't..." Syndra began before hesitating, "I can't... Not after what I've done... You'll hate me..."
Syndra looked away from the warrior with a forlorn look in her eyes. Fear that the warrior would reject her was once again painted all over the sovereign's expression.
"Then you don't have to-" Irelia started, but Syndra interrupted her.
"I have to." The mage stated firmly. "You... deserve... to know..."
Begin Flashback
Syndra wandered aimlessly about the orphanage halls. It was so quiet without any of the children buzzing about harassing her.
They were busy sleeping on the floor though.
Syndra didn't know why any of them wanted to sleep on the floor though, it was cold there. Beds were so much warmer...
Shivering slightly, Syndra shuffled about; her bare feet making patting sounds on the cold stone floor as she hurried to the nearest bed. Still no shirt on her person and no replacement clothing in sight, the young mage grabbed all of the blankets off of the bed and tossed them over her person; the long blankets trailing about behind her along the floor.
Smiling to herself, Syndra contentedly wandered into the main hall of orphanage where the fireplace was. Usually, the fireplace was turned off at night in order to save wood. Syndra didn't care though, she wanted to turn it on. She wanted to be warm. Besides, none of the children were awake to stop her.
As she wandered into the main hall, however, Syndra walked into a wall of cold. The doors she blew open remained agape, allowing the frigid winter air to blow unrestrained into the orphanage. Syndra frowned and spoke in a childishly happy voice.
"Close!"
The doors closed.
Syndra blinked happily at that. She didn't remember the last time she said something and it actually happened. It was the third time that it happened that day.
Turning around, Syndra looked at the fireplace.
"On!" the young mage piped up.
The fireplace turned on.
Smiling even wider, Syndra shuffled up to a safe, warm distance beside the fireplace and curled up in her cocoon of blankets. Warm, satisfied, and happy, the mage was asleep in a mere matter of minutes.
Morning came blissfully late for Syndra. Without any of the other children to rudely awaken her, she was allowed to wake up as late as she wanted to. When the mage did finally rise from her slumber, the sun shined brightly above the orphanage.
"Morning!" Syndra practically yelled out jubilantly for no reason.
Stretching, the young mage yawned and rubbed her eyes. She didn't know why, but she felt even better than she did yesterday.
Turning around, Syndra prodded the fireplace back to life with a poker before glancing back at the children laying on the floor. They were still there. None of them had moved an inch from the night before.
Mildly annoyed, Syndra walked up to them.
"Move!" Syndra commanded.
The children went flying into the walls with a ugly sounding splat before crashing to the floor.
Syndra laughed, finding their actions funny.
"Move!" Syndra commanded again.
Again, the children went flying about before landing in haphazard positions on the floor.
"Move! Move! MOVE!" Syndra shouted happily.
Bodies of children and furniture alike went whizzing about the room, smashing into each other until Syndra got bored.
"Stop!"
Instantly, everything froze in mid air before dropping to the floor. Unaware of what she was doing, Syndra accidentally dropped one of the children on herself.
"Mmph!" the young mage grunted as the body shoved her to the floor.
Syndra blinked dazedly before attempting to push the child off of her. Alas it was too heavy. Squirming again, Syndra shifted the child into a more manageable position. Then she looked up.
The child's eyes were wide and open. Staring blankly into Syndra's eyes.
"KYAAAAA!" Syndra shrieked and blindly flung her arms upwards, releasing an inhuman explosion of raw magic power. Above the mage, the entire roof of the orphanage was blasted into shreds of wood as the explosion ripped through the surface before dissipating into the open sky.
Wide eyed and still terrified from what she had just seen, Syndra remained sitting on the orphanage floor; huddled up with her knees curled up to her chest.
Minutes later, dozens of Ionian guards swarmed into the orphanage to discover the source of the explosion. What they found was unbelievable.
A lone child, no older than four, sitting in the middle of a massive ring of debris and dead children.
One Year Later
"Hello Syndra, my name is Akano. I am here to conduct an assessment of your magical abilities."
Syndra blinked up at the towering man in front of her. She had never seen him before.
"I'm hungry!" Syndra replied in response to the man's words.
Akano raised an eyebrow in response.
"Perhaps we can get you a meal after we are done here." the magus replied, mildly annoyed with Syndra's childish response.
"Now if you could follow me this way please." Akano continued before sweeping away with a flourish of his robe.
Syndra's bare feet pattered along the floor as she struggled to keep up with the man.
After a few minutes of walking, the magus opened a door that revealed a large training area with a few small miscellaneous objects scattered about the room.
"We will conduct your assessment here." the man declared sharply. "You seem to have an... innate... talent for this type of activity, so let us not waste any time with trivial tasks."
Syndra fixated her bright purple eyes on the man eagerly.
"Now... If you could please move that chair without touching it." Akano commanded.
"Move!" Syndra piped up, pointing at the chair.
The chair shuddered violently before catapulting itself into the wall behind and shattering into a thousand pieces.
Syndra looked up at Akano with a wide grin on her face.
The magus was temporarily caught slack-jawed as he witnessed the raw amount of power Syndra unknowingly commanded.
"Move!" Syndra repeated, this time pointing at a ball on the floor.
The rubber ball whizzed around the room in response, bouncing about haphazardly but refusing to shatter like the chair.
"Enough." Akano finally commanded sharply.
Syndra didn't hear him.
"I SAID ENOUGH!" The magus shouted.
Syndra finally paused in her nonsensical commands; the ball finally coming to a rest after striking Akano on the back of the head.
Syndra giggled as the ball bounced away.
"You have exceeded my-" Akano started to speak, but Syndra's giggling grew louder.
Finally growing annoyed, Akano stooped to the ball and snatched it off the ground. Syndra's laughing stopped and a pouting frown replaced her happiness.
"As I was saying, you have exceeded my expectations." Akano continued stiffly as though nothing had occurred, "But what I would like to see is, perhaps a little more control... Now if you could try moving this ball from my hand onto that table without breaking anything."
"Okay!" Syndra piped up readily.
"Move!" Syndra piped up again. Again, the ball shot out of Akano's hand and whizzed around the room like a bullet ricocheting off of walls. Finally, Syndra pointed her finger at the desk and the ball whizzed over to the table. Unfortunately, Syndra failed to slow the ball down, causing the rubber toy to smash into the table and crush it into a dozen pieces.
Syndra froze and blinked before turning to Akano.
"Oops! Sowwee!" Syndra piped up, quite clearly unconcerned by the fact that she had failed Akano's test..
Akano, on the other hand, was nonplussed.
"That will be all." The magus stated stiffly. "You may wait here until we are done with your analysis."
With that, Akano swiftly swept out of the room, leaving a very bored Syndra alone in a room full of toys.
Outside the testing room...
"Her... condition... is unlike anything I have ever witnessed before." Akano uttered in a hushed tone. "At such a young age, the amount of raw magic that she harnesses is beyond the level of three adults combined. From just a few days ago, the amount of magic she is able to wield has increased tenfold."
"Surely such growth will stop? No physical body could withstand such constant and explosive growth." One of the elders in the group questioned.
"She is young! She could be an asset to Ionia should she be taught correctly!" Another elder spoke up.
"No." Akano spoke up sharply, "It is only a matter of time before she realizes the extent of the power she wields. We must dampen her abilities before she realizes this. Already, she has developed a callousness towards destruction. I will NOT risk this country for the possibility of gaining ONE mage."
"But Magus, she is but a child! Surely we can teach her!" The same elder argued in protest.
"Elder Kwan! I understand you have a soft spot for children, but the safety of our country comes first." Akano finished decisively. "I hereby ask the circle of elders for permission to seal Syndra's powers."
"I consent."
"I too consent."
"I as well..."
"I-"
-BOOM-
Before the fourth elder could give his consent, the side of the testing room erupted in a colossal explosion, showering the area behind the elders in a hailstorm of debris. Every elder in the area along with Akano turned in shock to see what was the source of the explosion. Finally, the dust settled to reveal an extremely small girl with purple eyes.
"I'm hungry!" Syndra whined.
Many Years Later...
Syndra stood, glowering above the body of her dying teacher.
She felt nothing at first.
Nothing until the seal on her powers began to decay.
Instantly, the rush of unbounded potential surged to her fingertips. Power which was rivaled by none and wielded by no one but her.
And yet, Syndra couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness as she watched the man whom she had considered the closest thing to her father slowly fade away.
Clenching and unclenching her fist, Syndra looked down on the dying old sage.
"Why." Syndra whispered to her teacher.
The old man's eyes flicked over to Syndra's face before looking away without answering.
"WHY!" Syndra snarled angrily.
Furious, she kicked the man onto his back and planted her foot on his chest.
"WHY! DAMMIT! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!" Syndra screeched.
At last, the man mustered the energy to speak.
"You're... a... monster... You'll... never get... away... with... thisssss..." The man finally heaved his last breath and faded away.
Syndra grit her teeth with wounded rage that was filled with sorrow.
"You were the closest thing I had to a father!" Syndra moaned in an agonized tone. "YOU WERE ALL THAT I HAD!"
Filled with betrayal, Syndra knelt down to her knees beside the sage's corpse and pounded the body with a fist.
"Why! WHY WHY!" Syndra repeated as though her words would change anything.
Finally, Syndra exhausted her fairly lousy physical abilities and pushed herself to her feet. Having vented her feelings of betrayal, Syndra felt surprisingly calm, albeit slightly less alive inside. Still, the rush of her unhinged powers served to greatly offset the cloud of doubt lingering in the back of her mind.
Turning around, Syndra willed her powers to carry her forth to the entrance of the temple. Beneath her, she could see the bustling city of Ionia; alive and swarming with disgusting pigs. Abruptly, Syndra felt the familiar boils of rage rising up within her. It would only be a matter of time before her actions were discovered. If she did nothing, the pigs beneath her would attempt to shackle her greatness once more.
"Pigs." Syndra spat viciously. "How dare you try to take away what is mine!"
Contemplating her options, Syndra tossed out the notion of rejoining the society that cast her aside.
"You who are weak have no right to do this to me! You who refuse to acknowledge my greatness! I who am the strongest mage in all of Ionia! I WHO AM THE STRONGEST MAGE IN ALL OF RUNETERRA!" Syndra roared at the city beneath her even though she knew they could not hear her.
Abruptly, Syndra whirled on her heel and vanished back into the depths of the temple. Blasting apart the doors to the forbidden section of the temple, Syndra feasted her eyes on the secrets of magic that her former mentor forbid her from reading. Dark arts that taught her the most cruel and wicked ways she could possibly use to kill people. At long last, Syndra had her fill of books and turned to the one other thing in the room. A suit of light cloth armor.
Floating over to the armor, Syndra reached out and gently lifted the headdress from its perch atop a mantle and donned it on her own head.
It fit her perfectly.
So did the rest of the armor.
At last, Syndra emerged from the depths of the temple and returned to the entrance. Waiting outside the castle were several Ionian officials along with a small regiment of guards that had come to visit the sage.
What they got instead was a young mage dressed in the armor of the heretics.
Gazing down at the group of Ionians beneath her, Syndra spoke in a strong and powerful tone.
"The sage you seek no longer exists." Syndra addressed the group. "Your kind is no longer welcome here."
As if the guards were able to read by the tone of Syndra's voice that she was the one that had killed the sage, they readied their weapons and bristled with hostility.
"What have you done!" One of the guards shouted.
Syndra glared at the guard before speaking.
"Allow me to show you!" Syndra abruptly snarled in reply.
Before anyone could react, Syndra reached out and pulled forth one of the Ionian officials cowering behind the guards.
"FEAST YOUR EYES ON MY POWER!" Syndra shouted.
Brutally crushing her outstretched hand into a fist, Syndra viciously ended the official's life in a horrid splatter, showering the entire entourage of guards and officials in a mixture of blood and crushed human body parts.
Horrified, the group of Ionians cowered in terror as they realized what the mage had just done without a blink of an eye.
"You who have tried to take away what is mine! You have just gained an enemy that you do NOT want to have!" Syndra declared, her hollow voice echoing maddeningly about the temple courtyard.
As the sovereign spoke, one of the Ionian officials attempted to flee. Syndra swatted him to the floor with a flick of her wrist.
"I will be the one that decides who lives!" Syndra yelled. Abruptly, her face twisted into a wicked smile. "And I've decided that NONE of you will!"
Immediately, Syndra willed her power to collect on top of the lone official. The man instantly died as the magic phased into a sphere and crushed him.
"WITCH!" One of the guards screamed. He foolishly charged the mage with his weapon at the ready.
Syndra sent the man sprawling back into his comrades with a flick of her finger.
"You can all die together!" Syndra snarled and reached out to her side.
The last thing the entire group saw was a colossal statue effortlessly lift into the air before it came crashing down on their heads.
After having killed the remaining guards, Syndra allowed herself a twisted smile.
It was fun.
Playing with them was fun.
Still smiling, Syndra turned and floated back into the depths of the castle. She had no intentions of returning to the society that dared to spite her. She didn't need them anymore. They were unworthy of her greatness.
Finally, Syndra reached her destination. The central courtyard.
It was time for a true test of her abilities.
The temple would be hers.
And it would be part of the sky.
End Flashback
Silence settled between both Irelia and Syndra for several minutes as both of them stared into the fireplace.
Finally, Irelia broke the silence.
"I can't believe-" She started until Syndra butted in.
"I knew you would hate me..." Syndra whispered, her throat constricting in fear of what she believed Irelia was about to say.
"-we did that to you..." Irelia finished as though Syndra never interrupted her.
Syndra blinked in surprise.
"You mean you don't..." Syndra paused, "But I killed so many of your people!"
Irelia didn't answer.
"I enjoyed it too!" Syndra continued, "I... I... took away so much of what you had... And I destroyed your land and I-"
"You defended yourself." Irelia muttered somewhat reluctantly. It was clear that she disliked the idea that her people were dying at the sovereign's hands, although she understood that the rather crude reasoning behind Syndra's deadly actions.
Syndra opened and closed her mouth wordlessly.
"We tried to take away something that you were born with. We never tried to teach you. We exiled you and abandoned you before you even knew what you were doing." Irelia continued in a subdued tone.
"But I killed those children!" Syndra argued back. "I killed them! And I enjoyed it!"
"You were a child." Irelia answered, "You didn't even know you were using magic."
Syndra finally ceased her arguing and returned her gaze back to the fireplace.
She was stunned.
Never before had did she expect to see such reasoning from an Ionian. Even coming from Irelia, it was surprising to find someone who was so ready to accept her actions, to be so willing to forgive.
Another few minutes passed in silence until Syndra spoke again. This time, her face was visibly crossed with a confused amount of emotion.
" 'relia..." Syndra whispered in a tentative tone.
Irelia turned and gazed at the mage.
"Am I..." Syndra hesitated, "Did I do the wrong thing?"
Irelia turned a wide eyed gaze to the sovereign. Was the mage doubting her actions? Before Irelia could speak, however, Syndra continued with a more serious question.
"Am I... Am I a bad person?"
It was Irelia's turn to be surprised. Syndra was the last person she would have thought would ask such a question. Alas, the warrior sighed and gazed into the depths of Syndra's eyes.
"You were defending yourself." Irelia repeated.
Syndra looked away, somewhat dissatisfied with her answer.
"The man who steals medicine for his sick child isn't necessarily a bad person, Syndra." Irelia spoke up.
"Then it is okay for me to have killed so many?" Syndra questioned mutely, sounding unconvinced.
"Well... No..." Irelia answered. "Not that many..."
Syndra looked away somewhat guiltily.
"To be honest, Syndra, if you didn't... more and more would have just come after you. You would have never seen the end of the fighting." Irelia said with an all too knowing sigh. She understood full well that Ionia would have refused to leave such a dangerous foe free to do as she pleased
"So it was right for me to kill them?" Syndra repeated.
"Again no, but as humans we do what we can to protect ourselves." Irelia answered.
Syndra hesitated as she attempted to justify her actions.
"It's not like my hands are cleaner than yours." Irelia stated somewhat flatly in a lousy attempt to show Syndra that she wasn't a little angel either.
"But you killed Noxians." Syndra argued back.
Irelia laughed slightly before replying.
"Believe it or not, Noxians are people too, Syndra..." Irelia answered wryly.
Syndra frowned and creased her brow.
"Then when IS it okay to kill?" Syndra questioned, sounding confused.
"Never." Irelia answered immediately.
Syndra let out a frustrated grunt that clearly exhibited her confusion.
"Don't worry, Syndra, you're not a bad person..." Irelia finally sighed with a wry smile. Behind her gaze, Irelia thought to herself "As long as you're as conflicted as this about killing people, you aren't..."
Syndra's head snapped up at that.
"Why not?" Syndra questioned immediately. The mage looked away with a guilty edge to her gaze. "After everything I've done to you, why don't you hate me? Why did you help me in the first place? Why did you take care of me? Why didn't you kill me? Why? Why!? WHY!?"
Irelia couldn't help but smile knowingly as she watched Syndra struggle to understand the conflicted feelings that she was finally developing. Emotions that she used to ignore were finally beginning to be noticed. However, rather than answer the confused mage, Irelia merely leaned her head onto the mage's shoulder.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Syndra demanded, even more confused than before.
Raising her head off of the mage's shoulder, Irelia frowned slightly and turned to look at the mage. Syndra met her gaze with intent confusion.
"You're really clueless." Irelia finally muttered and forcibly shoved Syndra so that the mage fell onto the couch.
Syndra blinked as she still failed to understand the reasoning behind Irelia's actions.
Finally Irelia rolled her eyes and leaned over the mage before planting a solid kiss on Syndra's mouth.
After maintaining the contact for a few seconds, Irelia backed away a few inches so that she could speak.
"Does that answer your question?" Irelia asked slyly.
Syndra's face turned a slight pink, but she still didn't get it.
"Not really..." the mage whispered lamely, "But could I have another?"
Irelia pushed herself up until her arms were straight while she remained on top of Syndra.
"It means I love you, dummy." Irelia finally said bluntly, her face pinking slightly as she finally admitted her true feelings.
Instantly, Syndra's face flushed a bright crimson.
"You mean you don't... you mean you lo-... love me?" Syndra seemed almost paralyzed by the fact that Irelia harbored such feelings for her. Without a doubt, it was the first time that anyone had ever said such words to the sovereign.
"But... But I-" Syndra attempted to speak again, but Irelia stopped her with another kiss.
When Irelia finally backed away once more, Syndra still tried to speak.
"Oh just stop it already!" Irelia finally snapped, frustrated with Syndra's resistance.
"I know you love me too. That's why you're willing to be so open with me." Irelia continued.
Syndra's mouth opened and closed wordlessly in a failed attempt to both admit or deny her feelings for Irelia.
Once again, Irelia grew impatient with the mage.
"Ugh! Just COME HERE ALREADY!" Irelia finally snapped and grabbed Syndra roughly by the shirt.
At long last, Syndra gave up her lame attempt at reasoning and latched onto both of Irelia's wrists.
Irelia smiled widely in response and finally leaned in for another kiss.
This time, Syndra kissed her back.
The rest of the early morning was lost to the Ionians as they fully embraced one another. Neither giving into the hot bloody flurry of passion, but rather the constant, steady warmth of a gentle, heartfelt love.
Author's Notes:
Oops... Did it again... way too long of a chapter... This one trumps my previous record chapter length by a whole three thousand words. If that's a bad thing, sorry. If it's a good thing... then... uhh... haapy new year?
Seeing as it is that special time of year, I'm going to have a little bit of a more personal A/N time.
I debated splitting this chapter in half, but my greedy side won out over me and pushed me into keeping it as one long chapter. I really wanted to finish setting up the full structure of this little relationship. Now that the structuring is done, we can dabble a little bit here and there and then finally move on to the climactic ending to this story. Don't worry, it might take us a while to get there...
Now for some personal thoughts about this chapter. From my standpoint, I was really aiming at trying to remove the last barriers between these two characters. Trying to show how they have shared their most intimate fears and feelings for each other so that they are finally able to be completely honest with each other without fear of hurting the other. It was hard trying to keep Syndra in character as I was trying to balance her between being an unreasonable tyrant and being a evolving character that is finally learning to be more reasonable and harbor emotions that she previously never felt. Personally, I think it might have suited me better if I slowed things down even further, but what the hell... they've been going at each other for the past fourteen chapters so I figured I could finally push them over the hill. Hopefully I did it in a way that you guys found both enjoyable and believable. That in mind, I tried to keep the flashbacks and past recollections as lore friendly as possible. Definitely wasn't easy, but i think I did alright there as well. Whatever you think, please do let me know.
Well, that about sums it up for this A/N. Time for me to be a sellout and ask for more critique/comments etc... you know the drill.
As always, thank you all for your support and thank you again for making it this far into the series. I never would have thought that this story would have come this far and without a shadow of a doubt, I owe it all to you readers out there.
Thanks again and a Happy New Year to you all!
PS: This chapter is going up a little early because I'm sitting in an airport and I don't know when I will have the next opportunity to upload this story. Better early than late!