Broken
"Relax Irelia, she's-"
"But she was... Bleeding so much... Then she even put... More strain on herself... By using her powers!" Irelia wheezed as she gasped for air.
The Ionian warrior planted her hands on her knees as she bent over and continued panting.
"All the more reason for you to calm down and let me take care of this, okay?" Soraka continued with slight exasperation.
"But-"
"No buts, Irelia. She has a mild concussion and severe lacerations across the right side of her head. Now could you please let me do my job?" Soraka cut Irelia off in a rather blunt fashion.
Finally, Irelia recovered enough from her panicked frenzy to calm down slightly.
"Alright..." Irelia sighed, still breathing heavily.
"Alright..." She repeated again.
Soraka didn't even bother asking Irelia to leave the room, knowing that the warrior would have resolutely refused such a notion.
Working with swift and professional experience, Soraka glided around the gurney in which the sovereign lay in until she was positioned above Syndra's head. The healer placed a hand on both sides of Syndra's head before shutting her eyes and drawing in a deep breath before finally whispering a muted incantation; calling upon the magic of the stars to mend, heal, and reverse the damage inflicted upon the sovereign.
When at last, the dim glow of healing faded from her hands, Soraka opened her eyes once more. The healer took a step back, regarding her handiwork with satisfaction. The swelling and bleeding formerly present on the sovereign's head had reduced to a mere white line on the surface of her skin.
"There. See, Irelia, nothing to be worried about as long as you..." Soraka stopped abruptly upon hearing a heavy breath from the mage beneath her.
As if she instantly knew what was about to happen, Soraka dashed to a nearby counter, grabbed a needle off of the surface and returned to the bed.
Not a second too soon.
Milliseconds after Soraka managed to grab the needle, Syndra bolted upright in the gurney. The mage instinctively willed forth a blistering amount of raw power to collect at her fingertips; power that was ready to explode without a moment of hesitation.
Blindly, the mage's eyes darted about, searching hungrily for a target.
"Syndra! You're-" Irelia abruptly called out, startled that the mage was awake so quickly.
Syndra didn't recognize the voice and instinctively assumed it was an enemy.
"HA-" Syndra started to yell, but immediately stopped as a sharp sting hit her shoulder.
"-ahhhhhh..." Syndra's voice faded into an unenthusiastic groan. her shoulders and eyelids drooped instantly as Soraka's injected drug took effect.
"uhhhh..." Syndra sounded as she crumpled back down onto the gurney.
The mage blinked slowly as if her eyelids were suddenly extremely heavy.
"Whew..." Soraka sighed, "Just in time..."
The healer brandished her needle as if it was a life saving tool.
Finally, Irelia regained her voice.
"Soraka! What did you do to her!" Irelia cried out, sounding almost alarmed for the mage's wellbeing.
"Syndra!? Are you okay!?" Irelia immediately continued without waiting for a response from Soraka.
The warrior rushed over to the mage's side and knelt down so that she was in Syndra's vision.
"mmmm... plaything?" Syndra murmured drunkenly as her eyes failed to focus on Irelia's face.
"Relax, Irelia, I just gave her morphine..." Soraka spoke up in attempt to calm Irelia's frenzied worrying.
"MORPHINE!? WHY WOULD YOU DRUG HER!" Irelia cried out, sounding even more alarmed than before.
"Irelia, she was about to blast you to bits!" Soraka argued back, now fully annoyed with Irelia's uncharacteristically unreasonable behavior.
"But she-"
"And she needs rest." Soraka cut Irelia off firmly. "This was the best, fastest, and least painful way to get her to do so. It was for her own good."
Finally, Irelia seemed to wrap her head around the fact that Soraka had just prevented a disaster.
"For her own good?" Irelia repeated questioningly.
"Yes, Irelia, for her own good." Soraka confirmed.
The Ionian warrior drew a deep, calming breath and set her anxious mind at ease.
"She's going to be alright then?" Irelia inquired. This time her voice was a softer, concerned tone.
"Yes, Irelia, she's going to be completely fine..." Soraka repeated for what felt like the thousandth time.
Or so she thought...
Seconds after Soraka finished speaking, the door to the room was forcibly kicked open. Instantly, the sound of clanking armor and booted feet reached their ears.
"What is the meaning of-uph!" Soraka grunted as the lead soldier rudely pushed her aside.
The man's eye's settle on Syndra's sleeping face.
"Dark. Sovereign." The man spat with extreme hatred present in his voice.
The soldier drew his sword from his waist and advanced on the unconscious mage. Killing intent was written all over his features.
Finally, Irelia moved.
"Stand down." Irelia ordered in a cold, steely tone.
The man froze, recognizing his superior's voice.
"I SAID STAND DOWN!" Irelia exploded, abruptly rocketing to her feet.
Irelia swiftly strode into a position that placed her directly between the mass of soldiers and Syndra.
"That. Is. An. Order." Irelia spoke up in the same cold, steely tone.
"I... I..." the soldier stuttered.
Irelia practically melted him with the strength of her glare.
"Y-y-yes ma'am..." he finally managed to stammer.
The man sheathed his sword and shuffled backwards a few steps.
Irelia turned her back to the soldiers and gazed back at Syndra before gently brushing a few stray strands of hair out of the sleeping mage's face.
Finally, Soraka's temper exploded.
"Out! OUT! OUT! OUT!" The healer yelled in an extremely annoyed voice, "THIS IS A HOSPITAL, NOT YOUR BARRACKS!"
Finally, the soldiers realized the extent of their rude entry and abrupt intrusion.
"Ah... Sorry ma'am..." The lead soldier muttered.
The line of soldiers and guards filed out of the room until only the sergeant of the group remained.
"Ma'am..." The sergeant spoke up hesitantly.
"Speak." Irelia barked out in a cutting tone.
The man flinched.
"I... I am... I'm sorry." He finally managed to stammer.
The man held out a small piece of parchment enclosed in an envelope.
Irelia gave the man a brief glance before taking the proffered item.
"Dismissed." Irelia barked, causing the sergeant to flinch before snapping off a quick salute and hurrying out the door.
Finally, Irelia opened the envelope.
...
From her position beside the door, Soraka watched as Irelia's expression changed.
It didn't change much; it went from angry... to absolutely livid.
Finally, Irelia shut her eyes and drew a deep breath.
She took a few steps forward until she was directly in front of the door.
"Irelia... Is something-" Soraka started until-
"RAAAAHHH!" Irelia suddenly screamed and blindly lashed out with a fist; striking the door with such force that her fist dented the door and shook the entire framing that held the door in place.
"FUCK!" Irelia screeched, "FUCK! FUCK! GOD!-..."
The warrior punctuated each curse with a fresh strike against the door.
Finally, she stopped and lowered her bruised, slightly bleeding fist to her side.
Soraka subconsciously swallowed in fear of Irelia's rage.
" 'relia... what's wrong..." Soraka finally spoke up in a meek voice.
Irelia's head snapped over to Soraka as though she just noticed that the healer was there. Finally, she tossed the small parchment she had just read into Soraka's hands.
"Sorry." Irelia abruptly muttered, apologizing for both the rude entry by the soldiers and for her uncharacteristically rage-filled outburst.
The warrior began pacing about the room anxiously as Soraka finally settled down to read the letter in her hands.
By Order of The Circle of Elders,
All soldiers are to immediately subdue the individual known as Syndra, The Dark Sovereign. Charges against The Dark Sovereign include upwards of a thousand accounts of manslaughter, destruction of Ionian land, and the attempted assassination of two Ionian Elders.
Individual in question is to be regarded as extremely dangerous. The use of deadly force is authorized. If the individual in question resists arrest or attempts escape, the individual is to be terminated without hesitation.
Finally, Soraka finished reading and glanced up at Irelia.
The warrior had finally stopped in her pacing and taken a seat on a stool directly beside the sleeping sovereign.
"Irelia..." Soraka finally whispered.
Irelia flinched as though someone had slapped her.
Without replying, Irelia slowly pushed herself back to her feet.
" 'relia... what are you going to do!" Soraka asked, her eyes wide with both fear and sadness.
"I..." Irelia hesitated, "I'm going to find Karma."
Soraka watched wordlessly as the warrior swiftly strode to the door and opened it.
"Soraka... watch her for me... okay?" Irelia asked in a quiet tone.
Soraka nodded without replying.
Finally, Irelia vanished out of the room, closing the door with a soft click.
Karma took a deep, long, breath before opening her eyes and gazing back at the young Ionian before her. The warrior had been talking to her nonstop for the past thirty minutes before finally taking a break and giving Karma a chance to speak.
The enlightened one cracked her mouth open slightly, but words failed to emerge.
She took another breath.
Finally, she regained her voice.
"Irelia... are you sure-"
"Karma, you saw how she protected you! How she protected Elder Kwan! She's changed!" Irelia pressed on desperately.
"I know, but how can we trust-"
"If she wanted to kill you, should wouldn't have even told you that the assassins were coming!" Irelia interrupted yet again.
Karma's gaze hardened with skepticism.
"How can we know that the sovereign is not merely using you..." Karma questioned quietly.
Irelia's mouth hung open slightly as a mixture of shock and anger crossed her face.
"She wouldn't ever do such a thing!" Irelia exclaimed with such steadfast faith that Karma was taken aback.
Karma took an unusually shaky breath as she tried her best to calm her agitation.
"She told me herself!" Irelia continued, oblivious to Karma's confliction, "She told me about her childhood, she told me about her life. She told me about everything! She trusts me with everything. She... She loves me!"
Karma stiffened at the last statement.
Finally, the enlightened one lifted her eyes to meet Irelia's fervent gaze.
The warrior's eyes were glazed with desperation; glassy with fear over loosing the one person she truly loved.
That was it, Karma finally realized.
Behind all of the panic, Irelia was hopelessly in love. In love with not only another person, but also finally at peace with finding someone that was a part of her family.
The warrior had finally found something... someone... to patch her bleeding heart with.
It was then that Karma knew that nothing she did would stop Irelia.
The enlightened one took another deep breath.
"Tiera Es Vi Oune..." Karma muttered before speaking up, "How can I help..."
Instantly, Irelia let out a sigh of relief.
"They are going to make a trial... I already know they plan to stack everything against Syndra, but maybe we can lighten her sentance..." Irelia finally spoke up with grim resolve, "All I want is the truth."
Karma blinked and sat back.
"You assume that the sovereign is willing to allow herself to be put on trial." Karma stated in a worried tone.
"She..." Irelia hesitated, "She will trust me."
Karma drew another deep breath before speaking.
"You can expect no less than the absolute truth from me. I will not be so blind as to reject her... So long as what you say about her changes is true..." Karma replied firmly.
Irelia straightened her posture in response to the latter half of Karma's words.
"It's true." Irelia stated firmly.
A brief moment of silence settled between the two women as they pondered their own private thoughts.
Irelia herself was lost to her own thoughts of thankfulness to how open and reasonable Karma was. Without a doubt, the enlightened Ionian was worthy of the titles she owned.
"Irelia..." Karma finally spoke up after a few more minutes of silence.
The warrior blinked and quickly glanced up to meet Karma's eyes.
"Her injuries..." Karma began, before allowing her voice to trail off.
"She should be alright. I think it looked worse than it actually was." Irelia answered with a rather relieved sigh.
"Ah..." Karma sounded in acknowledgement.
"Is she... conscious? Perhaps... Perhaps I... Perhaps she will entertain a visit?" Karma inquired with uncharacteristic hesitation.
Irelia blinked in surprise.
"I... Uh..." Irelia hesitated, "I don't think she is awake right-"
-BOOM-
"Stop her! Stop her! SECURITY!" A panicked voice suddenly sounded from outside of Karma's hospital room.
Both Karma and Irelia glanced at the door with surprise.
Finally, a familiar voice reached their ears.
"AWAY FROM ME, FREAKS! AWAY!" Syndra screeched, her agitated voice echoing down the hallway.
The sovereign whizzed through the air, followed by more than a dozen guards that were attempting to subdue her.
"Syndra, please, just wait! Irelia is here, she just-" Soraka yelled out as she helplessly chased the sovereign down the hallway.
The mage crashed into walls and doors at random, quite clearly still feeling the effects of Soraka's drugs.
"Syndra! Wait!" Soraka called out, still chasing after the mage.
Finally, the sovereign came to a halt after drunkenly flying into a wall at a fairly high velocity.
"Ahh..Ah.." Syndra groaned in pain as she her eyes continued to have trouble focusing on anything.
A voice startled her out of her daze. This time, it wasn't Soraka's soothing voice.
"Get her!" One of the guards bellowed and attempted to tackle her to the floor.
Syndra whirled around and blindly swung an arm.
-BOOM-
A large section of dry wall exploded as Syndra wildly released an explosive amount of magic.
Although she didn't actually manage to strike the guard that attempted to tackle her, the explosion and resulting shower of debris was more than enough to send him flying to the floor.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Syndra screamed as she flung herself into the air once more and attempted to flee.
"Syndra! Please, just calm down, Irelia will be-" Soraka attempted to call out, but Syndra only heard one word.
Irelia.
"IRELIA!" Syndra screamed as she arbitrarily took a turn and flew down another hallway.
"IRELIA! IRELIA! IRELIA!" Syndra repeated over and over, her drunkenness stripping her of all other thoughts and whatever small amount of reason she held in the first place.
Finally, Syndra flew herself into a dead end. Wildly, the mage searched for another path to escape to.
There was none.
Seconds later, the sound of dozens of booted feet thundering their way towards her met the sovereign's ears.
"THERE SHE IS, GET HER!" the leading guard screeched.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Syndra screamed back, raising a hand drunkenly in attempt to defend herself.
Alas, when the mage attempted to lash out in fury, the effects of Soraka's morphine served to offset her abilities to a significant degree. Rather than ripping a hole in the guard before her, Syndra blindly annihilated yet another wall, missing her target completely. Unlike her previous attack which at least knocked away the guard, this one failed to even cause the guard to flinch. Before she could let loose another attack, the guards collapsed on her.
"Mmmph!" Syndra grunted as several muscular guards dog piled on her, pinning her to the floor.
"SEAL! SEAL HER NOW!" One of the guards bellowed.
Instantly, Syndra's eyes shot wide with fear.
Even being under the influence of an excessive amount of morphine, Syndra understood what was about to happen.
She wanted nothing to do with it.
"NO!" Syndra screamed hysterically, "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" She repeated as though her words would get her a different result.
The mage thrashed about violently, haphazardly kicking and striking the guards on top of her as well as the floor she was flattened on.
"IRELIAAAA!" Syndra cried out one last time in desperation.
Then she felt a searing hot object scorch the skin on her shoulder.
She lost it
"NO!" Syndra finally screamed with uncontrollable rage.
The mage blindly drew upon the entirety of her powers, willing an apocalyptic amount of pure magic to manifest within her form. The air about the mage grew dense; heavy with amount of energy being focused in such a small area. So vast was the amount of raw energy being collected that the paint covering the hospital walls around the sovereign began blistering away. Even the guards hesitated, realizing the extent of deadly force being welled up within the mage.
"Kill! Kill! KILL!" Syndra's subconscious screamed at her.
Just as the sovereign was about to give in-
"Syndra!"
"HA-" Syndra began to yell, but stopped just as she was about to release her catastrophic explosion of raw power.
Standing directly in front of her was none other than Irelia.
She had arrived just in time.
Capitalizing on the mage's sudden hesitation, one of the guards stuck Syndra heavily across the back of her head, sending the mage's skull smashing into the ground.
Though the attempt to incapacitate the mage failed, the physical strength instantly drained out of Syndra's body; her entire form stunned by the heavy strike.
The mage blinked dazedly and Irelia gaped in horror at the harm being inflicted upon the mage
Unfortunately, the strike did little to dissipate the magic that Syndra had already collected.
It only motivated her more to use it.
"RAAAAAH!" Syndra immediately screamed, preparing her pent up energy for a deadly release.
"Syndra wait! Don't do it!" Irelia finally called out, her voice finally returning to her.
Instantly, Syndra's eyes snapped over to Irelia's pleading face. Panic was written all over the sovereign's features as she fought a desperate struggle to either preserve herself or bend to Irelia's begging requests.
Time seemed to stop as the pair gazed at each other; their eyes locked together in wordless conversation.
It wasn't until a searing pain cut into Syndra's shoulder that she finally broke the air of silence.
"MNNAAAH!" Syndra cried out in agony as the pain ripped through her shoulder, her eyes slamming shut as pain overloaded her senses.
Still, she didn't release her power.
Finally, the sovereign ripped her eyes open and locked with Irelia's gaze once more.
Irelia could only watch helplessly as her partner had her powers ripped away from her once more.
Finally, Syndra spoke.
"Stop..." Syndra begged, her eyes wide and pleading, "Make them stop..."
Slowly, the glow in the sovereign's eyes began to fade.
The fading glow gave way to tears.
Irelia opened her mouth to cry out in defiance, but her words caught in her throat. The warrior was paralyzed with horror as she watched her partner sacrifice her own defense at Irelia's mere request.
"Make it stop!" Syndra cried out in choked up voice.
Desperate tears of helplessness spilled out of the sovereign's eyes as she gave in to Irelia's requests not to use her powers in defense of herself.
"Help!" Syndra sobbed, her eyes locked in desperation with Irelia's gaze.
"Irelia..." Syndra wailed.
Finally, Irelia couldn't bear the pain and guild any longer. Ignoring her position as captain of the guard, Irelia forced her voice out of her throat, speaking in an agitated tone.
"Stop!" Irelia cried out, "Stop it, you're hurting her!"
The guards ignored her.
"Stop, dammit!" Irelia demanded again. This time her voice was filled with livid fury.
The guards were deaf to her.
Unreasonable rage boiled through Irelia's veins as she balled her hands into fists in preparation to free her mage by force. Thankfully, Soraka caught the warrior by the hand; preventing the warrior from making a horrible mistake by striking her own comrades. Irelia immediately ripped her hand out of her captor's grasp before turning back and finally gazing back at the individual that had attempted to stop her.
Soraka met the warrior's gaze with a look of fear and worry.
Instantly, the violence vanished from Irelia's eyes as she finally realized what she was about to do. The warrior blinked in shock at her own inclination to such violent methods.
It wasn't until Syndra cried out in agony yet again that Irelia was snapped out of her trance.
"No!" Irelia immediately cried out, realizing what her hesitation had done.
Finally, the glow faded entirely from Syndra's eyes; a fresh, new sealing rune engrained and fully bonded with her rear shoulder.
At long last, the the guards released the now powerless mage.
Instantly, she fled into Irelia's arms, sobbing with pain and loss.
Irelia immediately caught the mage in a deathly strong embrace.
The warrior's mouth opened and closed wordlessly as she realized that she had completely and utterly failed to protect the sovereign.
Syndra drew in a ragged, shaking breath that shook her entire body.
"It's okay... It's alright..." Irelia finally murmured, doing her best to comfort the mage while trying to suppress the feeling of failure descending upon her.
Syndra trembled violently, and Irelia felt her shoulder grow damp.
"Syndra, you're safe... You're safe now... I'm here to protect you..." Irelia whispered in the mage's ear.
The warrior only felt the sense of failure and guilt increase as she spoke.
Syndra cried harder.
"Don't worry..." Irelia continued, "I can fix this... Trust me..."
Finally, Irelia turned away from the guards who were all staring in shock at the odd pair.
She offered no words to them as she silently guided the wailing mage back to her hospital room. Grim resolve had replaced the shock on her face.
She had failed the sovereign.
She wouldn't let such a thing happen ever again.
Author's Notes:
Well, here we go. From here on out, we take a slow, steady climb all the way up to the finish of this story. Want a little teaser? Let's just say that no relationship is one sided. After another few chapters, we will truly get to see how Irelia's relationship has changed her as a person. Want another teaser? Desperation makes even the best of people take questionable actions. Okay seriously that's enough. As much as I want to spoil the rest of the story right here and right now, I'm going to restrain myself.
Time for some personal thoughts about the chapter. I'm definitely happier with this chapter than I was with the previous chapter. Before I forget, thank you so much to everyone who provided some feedback for that last chapter. It really did help me find what it was that I was missing: meaty character development and characterization. How shameful of me to forget what it was that I created this story based around... That being said, I think I put a good amount of development in this chapter; not only in Syndra, but also (finally) in Irelia. I have a lot more Irelia development planned as I previously mentioned, so hopefully you all will look forward to that.
As always, thank you so much for your continued support and I hope to see you all in the chapters to come.
Side note: This chapter is going out early as I will be extremely busy this weekend. No new chapter will be posted this coming weekend for the previously mentioned reason.