Behind the Veil of Power
"Are you sure the dosage amount was correct? Should she not be awake by now?"
"The amount I gave her was precisely enough for twenty two hours of unconsciousness. I don't know why she isn't awake yet..."
"Could it be that it was due to her injuries?"
"That is certainly a possibility... But if that were the case, she should be awake right-"
"SYNDRA!" Irelia abruptly burst out as she shot up into a sitting position in her bed. The warrior's breath was short and a dull perspiration matted her hair to her face.
At the sound of her awakening, three familiar figures entered the room.
"How do you feel, Irelia?" Soraka inquired as she sat down on the edge of Irelia's bed, reaching out to touch Irelia's forehead with her palm. Her hand never made it. Irelia caught the healer's outstretched arm by the wrist before it made contact.
"Fine. Thank you." Irelia answered stiffly, her gaze piercing the healer's eyes with a massive amount of accusation. The warrior paused for a few moments before disregarding any attempts to hide her intentions. "What time is it?"
Soraka gulped with a slight trace of fear before Elder Kwan stepped forward and greeted Irelia with a slight bow.
"It has been twenty two hours and thirty three minutes." Elder Kwan answered concisely.
"Where is she." Irelia immediately demanded, her tone flat, unyielding, and entirely not trying to disguise the nature of her question.
"... Holding at three hundred meters outside the city gates." Elder Kwan finally answered with a tentative amount of hesitation.
The elder paused for a few moments before finally settling down on the foot of Irelia's bed.
"... Look, Captain Lito, she-"
"I'm not going to listen to you." Irelia interrupted mercilessly, "Whatever you say about her, I'm not listening. You can't stop me. You won't stop me. I will fight my way out of here against all three of you if I have to."
Elder Kwan froze at the warrior's chilling words. Her tone was one of a cold resolution; a reflection of the iron will that she was known for. It wasn't until Karma spoke up that the silence was broken.
"Irelia... I have my doubts about that, particularly in your condition-"
"I don't care! You're not going to keep me from her! You won't even listen to what I have to say about her!" Irelia almost yelled back.
"Miss Lito, please at least try to be reason-"
"Love isn't reasonable!" Irelia shouted back, her face flushing with emotion, "For the first time in my life, I finally found someone! I finally have someone to rebuild the family I lost! And now you want to tear it all away from me!"
"Irelia that's not what we're-"
"Yes! IT IS!" Irelia almost screamed, fully convinced that they had turned against her. "GET OUT! OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE, NOW!"
The warrior's breathing was agitated and restless. It was clear that whatever attempt to calm her or reason with her would be unsuccessful. Irelia no longer saw them as trustworthy. It was her, and only her, that could save the sovereign.
Elder Kwan opened his mouth once more to protest, but a hand from Karma quickly silenced him. With no further words, the trio of visitors exited the room, leaving Irelia alone to her thoughts.
When the door to Irelia's room finally clicked shut behind them, Soraka immediately spoke up.
"Elders, why did we just leave her? Were we not supposed to tell her the truth? We have to let her know!" Soraka pleaded, her tone clearly agitated.
"No... No, she will figure it out in and of herself." Karma answered in slow reply as the group moved down away from the warrior's holding room.
"But then there-"
"There is no going back at this point, star child." Elder Kwan interrupted with a gentle lift of his hand. "No. There was never any going back..."
"Are we not supposed to give her the means to reach the sovereign's castle? How will she find her blades if we do not tell her? I mean they are hidden in the same room, but how will she know where they are sealed away?" Soraka continued, almost ignoring the elder's wise words.
The barest of all sad smiles crossed Karma's face before she turned and answered the healer's questions.
"She has likely already figured it out... Those blades are connected to her in ways that we cannot understand after all." Karma stated vaguely, "But if you feel the need to check, you're more than welcomed to do so."
Taking the enlightened one's words as a form of permission to do exactly that, Soraka immediately turned around and hurried back to Irelia's room. The star child's hands fumbled slightly as unlocked the door, simultaneously trying to think up a reasonable way to reconnect with the warrior and then reveal what it was the warrior needed to do.
Finally snapping the lock open, Soraka practically burst into the room, speaking as she did so.
"Irelia, we- ..." Soraka started, but then immediately stopped.
The room was deserted. There was not even a trace of the warrior other than a broken sealing box on the floor and the ruffled sheets on her bed. Kneeling beside the shattered box, Soraka sighed as she surveyed the crushed item. Brute force. It was a single strike that had shattered the box that sealed her blades within. Chuckling, the star child sighed and turned her eyes to the now open window. It had taken less than a minute for the warrior to escape her prison.
Again, the star child sighed, this time she rose back to her feet. Somehow, somewhere, in the back of her mind, she was comforted. Never before had she seen Irelia show such determination to succeed in her goal. It was as the comfort was all the healer needed to finally set her mind at ease.
"Be safe, Irelia... Be strong... You're going to need it..."
Irelia's heart hammered in her chest as she soared across the Placidium, using her blades a platform to carry herself. Though she was usually a very calm and collected individual, Irelia could only find herself agitated and restless. Her fears only grew as she drew closer to the castle. Beneath her, her blades shuddered unsteadily as she pushed herself to go faster than ever before.
It was missing... One of her blades was missing from her sword. When she smashed open the sealing box in her room, she only found three of the blades locked away. The fourth was nowhere to be seen. For some reason, the lack of the fourth blade only brought a sense of impending doom upon the warrior. Somehow, she knew that things weren't as how they appeared to be. She had her suspicions prior to being tranquilized, but now those suspicious were steadily being confirmed.
And then, perhaps the last thing that she wanted to see or hear finally occurred. The castle began to move. Ringing out above the Placidium, the sovereign's voice echoed like a malignant spirit; her words harsh and cruel, holding absolutely no tone of forgiveness.
"And so you have chosen to defy me!" Syndra's voice boomed across the Placidium, "Foolish! Now you will pay the price! "
Within seconds, the entire floating temple shuddered to life, beginning it's ominous intrusion upon the Placidium airspace. The castle's purple glow erupted in a resplendent display of raw magical power. It was as if a demon were approaching the Placidium, the entire fortress cloaked in a malicious purple aura that oozed with lethal intent.
Below the castle, hundreds if not thousands of Ionian soldiers, along with men and women alike stook in resolute defiance of the Sovereign's demands. A country formerly split with different political opinions united against a common enemy. And yet, as she approached, all of them quaked in fear.
"No!" Irelia whispered, panic and desperation rising in her chest, "No! NO! Syndra, no!"
But there was no stopping her now. Indeed, there wasn't a single thing left for Irelia to do other than continue her flight. She was beyond helpless to stop the sovereign now.
"NO!" Irelia screamed for a final time, praying with all her might that her voice might somehow stop the sovereign. Futile. Nothing could stop the mage now. Her mind and will were as one; her goals set with rigid resolution.
Finally, the first of many spheres to come crashed down upon the Placidium. Never before had such destructive force been realized by the Dark Sovereign. Unmatched, her violent, unrestrained power blackened the sky, raining destruction upon the capital below. Holes were punched in buildings. Anyone unlucky enough to get struck by a direct hit had absolutely no chance of survival.
And yet, the Ionian's were far from helpless. Fighting back with cannons, spells, and anything else that could reach the floating castle, they fired back; their weapons tearing chunks out of the castle's underbelly. Unfortunately, the strength of their counterattacks were but mere scratches compared to Syndra's cataclysmic assault.
Still, Irelia flew forth; pushing onwards as fast as she could while the destruction rained down all around her. With each pulse of her heart, the chaos only grew and her desperation increased. She had to stop her. She was the only one that could. As she flew, however, she noticed several cries erupt from the ground below. The citizens of Ionia had finally seen her. At once, their attacks ceased out of fear of striking down their prized captain of the guard. Still, the yelling continued. Demands that she return to them such that they could protect her. And yet, Irelia refused to listen. Onwards she soared, forging her own path and disregarding the demands of those around her. She was deaf to their cries. Only the cry of a single could resound in her ears; and that cry belonged to the owner of the floating castle bearing down upon the Placidium.
At last, she arrived... And without a single scratch upon her. Without the Ionian forces firing, there was no threat of the warrior ever being struck. It seemed as if the raining magic coming from the floating fortress went around the warrior. It was as if there was a barrier around her, protecting her from harm... The closer she travelled, the more she realized that this was the case. No matter how much her speed varied, the invisible field of safety followed.
She wasn't trying to hit her...
Yet, this simple fact did not bring the warrior a single ounce of comfort. In fact, it brought her the exact opposite. Despair. By the time her feet touched down on the temple's floor, her heart was laden with fear. Fear that her suspicions were true. Fear... that the sovereign was doing this of her own will...
Pressing forward, the warrior found the will to continue into the temple; ignoring the sense of impending doom that seemed to grow with each step she took. Finally, she breached the entrance to the main hall of the temple. In an instant, the entire fortress trembled as though it were alive. In a sudden, yet familiar clang, the fortress's demonic glow collapsed upon itself. The energy radiating from the castle folded inwards, changing from an offensive assault into a protective shield about the castle.
But she knew... Irelia knew that Syndra wasn't a mage that practiced defensive abilities. Protective barriers were never something she was strong with. And yet, she could feel the power of the barrier; the strength of the spell reflecting the iron will of the one who had cast it.
"No..." Irelia whispered, her pace quickening into a jog as she rushed forth deeper into the temple. "No... Syndra, please... stop..."
At last, the warrior burst into the center courtyard of the temple. It was the one place she instinctively came to. Sure enough, the last member of her family lay there, waiting for her arrival...
Syndra's hands trembled as she pushed the limits of her powers to far beyond the physical limitations of her body. The strain tore away at her body, ravaging her youthful form as her very own magic ripped her apart from the inside. The pain was unlike anything she ever felt before. Levitating two fortresses along with carrying out a vicious assault, all the while exercising precise control over her attacks simply were too many tasks to track.
And yet, she bore the pain. She grit her teeth and held on to her love with a grasp stronger than any she had ever gripped before. One that was stronger than the grip she even held on her beloved magic. For the one person that she loved, she would bear this pain... She would bear it, to see that face just one more time.
For what seemed to be an eternity, the Syndra withered beneath the strain of her magic. Until at last, her warrior landed safely on the castle courtyard. But rather than release her magic and free herself from her agony, the sovereign did the opposite. She doubled it. Forcing her magic into a new form, the sovereign generated a neigh impenetrable barrier around her temple. Now writhing in absolute agony, the sovereign collapsed to the floor as her body screamed in defiance. Still, she clamped down on her pain.
"No!" Syndra told herself, "No... just a little more..."
Still, even she could not resist her own body's pleading calls for an escape. The darkness of unconsciousness threatened to consume her as she put more and more strain on her body. So great was the pain that she didn't even notice Irelia rush to her side and pick her up off of the floor until she was cradled safely in the warmth of Irelia's arms.
"...Stop!" Irelia begged, tears pooling in her eyes as she gazed into Syndra's hazy expression, "Syndra! Stop! Please!... I'm begging you! You're going to die!"
It took the sovereign a few moments to recognize the sound of her lover's voice. It seemed so very distant from her.
At last, one of the sovereign's trembling hands lifted slowly into the air and found its way to Irelia's cheek. Gently, the mage's fingers brushed across the warrior's face in a loving gesture.
"... plaything..." Syndra whispered weakly, a smile warmer than any she had ever given painted across her face.
"Syndra! Stop! Stop doing this! I don't... I can't loose you!" Irelia pleaded again, one of her own hands reaching up to her own face and holding Syndra's hand in place against her face.
Yet, Syndra simply shook her head in denial of Irelia's pleading requests.
"Why?! Why are you doing this?!" Irelia sobbed, tears now flowing uncontrollably out of her eyes, "I don't want this!"
"... but you need this..." Syndra whispered in reply.
Outside the fortress, several explosions could be heard as the Ionian forces resumed their assault on the fortress. It seemed as if their resolve to continue attacking had renewed after they saw Irelia land within it. They most likely believed that the sovereign had trapped the captain within it with her barrier and was trying to regain control over her. Such a lie... and yet all of them believed it...
"No!" Irelia resolutely counted, "No I don't! I don't need this at all!"
The warrior's words, however, were cut off when Syndra let out a wretched sounding cough, a small trickle of blood leaking out of the corner of her mouth. Still, Syndra grit her teeth and increased the strength of the barrier around them.
"Syndra! Stop it right now!" Irelia demanded, this time anger and helplessness present in her voice.
"No..." Syndra replied, her voice weak yet resolute,"I have to do this... It's... the only way..."
"The only way for what?!" Irelia demanded helplessly, "We can... We can still go! Run away from it all. Be together!"
Again, Syndra shook her head.
"... No..." She repeated, "... You need them..."
"NO! NO I DON'T NEED THEM!" Irelia shrieked, her voice cracking with near hysteria, "I NEED YOU!"
Syndra froze for a moment, her eyes flicking over Irelia's tear stained face.
"... Don't cry... Irelia..." Syndra whispered, messily wiping away the warrior's tears with her fingers. "... don't cry..."
"How can I not?!" Irelia cried harder than ever, "How can I not when you won't listen to me? I don't want them, I just want you! I just want my family! You are my family! Can't you see that?"
Syndra turned away weakly and gestured at one of her spheres, bringing it close to the both of them before tapping it with a shaking hand. Instantly, the last part of Irelia's blade dropped out of the sphere, clattering to the floor before immediately snapping to place beside the rest of the warrior's blades.
Irelia stared at the blade for a few moments, noting the hideous amount of blood painted all over its surface. When she glanced back at the sovereign, the mage was smiling weakly back at her.
"... I... got him for you..." Syndra whispered.
Irelia trembled violently before speaking up through gritted teeth.
"Stop using your magic. Now." She demanded, clearly on the verge of breaking down completely.
Turning away, the warrior took a shaky gasp for air before turning back to the sovereign.
"I SAID NOW!" She commanded, desperately trying everything in her power to make Syndra comply.
Alas, her attempts were futile. Syndra simply refused to comply with her desires.
"... they didn't... hurt you... did they?" Syndra whispered, her voice seemingly weaker than before.
Irelia shook her head in response, but quickly spoke up afterwards.
"No... they didn't... But you are ... killing... me..." She said, her voice cracking several times as she spoke.
"... sorry... plaything..." Syndra whispered, "But-"
"No!" Irelia interrupted through her pouring tears, "No! Don't be sorry! Just stop... P-Please... J-just... S-Stop!"
"... I can't do that..." Syndra replied, her form briefly trembling as her body continued to protest against what she demanded of it.
"Why?! Why not?" Irelia demanded, her emotions now completely overtaking her, "If you keep this up... If you keep this up, you're going to die! You're... You're... going... to... leave me! We won't be... We won't be together!"
"... We will... always be together..." Syndra replied, a rare sort of serene smile on her face.
"No... No, Syndra..." Irelia stated, fear and terror now painted all across her features. "Not like that. Please! Not like that!"
"... Don't you see, Irelia..." Syndra rasped, "We were never meant to be together... Not yet..."
"What do you mean not yet?! We ARE meant to be together! We were always meant to!" Irelia almost screamed back, "Syndra, stop! Please! Just stop already, I can't loose you!"
"No... I'll do it... Anything to give you the life you need..." Syndra whispered.
"You're doing the exact opposite!" Irelia cried, "I don't need them! I need you!"
"You need them, Irelia..." Syndra continued as if the warrior hadn't even spoken.
"LISTEN TO ME!" Irelia screamed through her tears, "I DONT WANT THEM, I JUST WANT YOU. LISTEN TO WHAT IM SAYING!"
Syndra ignored the warrior and continued speaking.
"I can fix things this way... Things will go back to how they were... This is the only way-"
"No it's not! This isn't your decision to make!" Irelia cried.
"... Irelia... You can't stop me... Not now..." Syndra started, but Irelia shoved her way back in.
"NO! This is my decision too! I'll stop you! I'll use force if I have to!" Irelia threatened emptily.
"... I know you won't do that..." Syndra replied with a sad smile. "Just let me-"
"NO!" Irelia screeched, this time her voice was filled with helpless rage, "Shut up! Shut up and listen!"
Without an ounce of restraint, Irelia swung a fist downward like a hammer, catching the mage straight in the stomach. The blindly emotion strike knocked all of the wind out of the sovereign, causing her to double up as she struggled to regain her breath.
"No more!" Irelia demanded' her eyes riveted on the sovereign's crumpled form , "No more, Syndra!"
Pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, Syndra gasped a few times before regaining her breath.
"... You see... Irelia... The last thing left to do... is for you to... kill me..." Syndra replied.
While the sovereign remained on her fours, her eyes staring at the floor, Irelia froze in her spot.
"No..." She finally whispered, "I'll never... I'll never do that... What are you even saying? Kill you? No... Not a chance..."
Still staring at the floor, Syndra smiled weakly, "... I expected you to say that..."
Before Irelia could even react, Syndra shot to her feet, willing a blistering amount of magic to her fingertips. In a split second, the sovereign released the energy in a massive wave directly into the warrior at point blank range.
With no time or space to react, the full force of the wave travelled directly into her; catapulting Irelia backwards with blinding force into the wall behind her. Stunned, the warrior crumpled to the floor, her entire body reeling from the force of the blows. Her body numb and her skull ringing with pain, Irelia dazedly attempted to push herself back to her feet. Yet, her body refused to reply. It as as if invisible ropes had collapsed and rooted her body in place. At last, she wrenched her eyes open and blinked blearily at the scene before her.
Instantly, her mouth dropped open, and her heart ceased to beat for a few moments. Hovering before her was a scene she never wished to see... In the air, a good fifteen feet away from the collapsed warrior floated the Dark Sovereign. Only a few feet away in front of the mage, hovered Irelia's Heten blade. Even without speaking, Syndra's intent rang clear as day. She intended to take her own life...
"NO!" Irelia shrieked and sobbed at the same time, "SYNDRA NO! PLEASE NO... NO NO NO!"
But the sovereign refused to listen. Turning to the warrior, the sovereign's mouth moved in the motions of speaking "I love you...". The sound didn't reach Irelia's ears. It was as if her ears had stopped functioning as her very biggest fear played out like a dream before her eyes. She was helpless to stop it.
Time seemed to slow for the warrior as Syndra shut her eyes and turned her face upwards. At last, the blades flew forwards into the one thing in their way. A warm splash of magic infused blood poured out from the sovereign's back, painting the ground around her in a shining coat of fresh blood.
"SYNDRAAAAAHHH!" Irelia screamed, her cry resounding with an agonizing pain that sounded as if her soul was being wrenched from her body. Uncontrolled, the tears spilled forth from the warrior's eyes, her heart aching as if a piece of it had been torn asunder. In her agony, Irelia attempted to crawl forwards to the crumpled form of her partner. Still, her body trembled, her form sluggish as if it were inflicted with some paralyzing drug or magic. However, just as she had covered half of the distance between her and the sovereign, a strong pair of hands closed around her shoulders.
"The castle is falling, we need to leave!" A strong, yet firm and vaguely familiar voice sounded from behind the warrior. But Irelia was blind to guiding words. Onwards, she attempted to push, intent on returning to the side of her lover.
"Syn... dra..." Irelia sobbed, her voice broken with the amount of raw emotions surging through her.
"Irelia c'mon we need to go!" the same familiar voice sounded. Hazily, Irelia turned her head in the direction of the voice. Her eyes caught a brief flash of white and green before she looked away and attempted to reach the sovereign one last time. Alas, her weakened state made her unable to resist her savior's guiding hands. Against her will, the warrior was dragged away from the body of her lover.
Crying and absolutely overcome with grief and loss, she provided no further resistance as she was safely rescued from the castle. Not even ten seconds after her escape, the castle heaved one final sigh, and began crumbling to the floor...
Author's Notes:
It has been a while... A month to be exact... As for the delay, the only thing I can ask for is your understanding. Finals for college did pile up on me along with all those end of the semester projects. With eighteen credits being taken, I simply didn't have time to enjoy much of anything. Alongside that, this is the last chapter of this story. While there is a very (and I do mean very) important epilogue coming, this chapter is the last one of this journey. I needed to be sure that the emotions being felt and the pain being portrayed from both of these amazing characters to be representative of how deep their love for each other was/is. As such, this chapter went through three revisions. Three. I never rewrote a chapter that many times before. Hopefully this chapter captured the emotions that I wanted it to, and hopefully it met up to your expectations as a reader.
Personally, I feel like the ending of this chapter is a little bit rushed. But at the same time, I know that this isn't "technically" the ending. The epilogue of this story can be somewhat seen as a continuation of this chapter. All of the loose ends that are still floating about WILL be tied together in the epilogue. Anything that I do miss will likely be covered in the shorts that will follow after the epilogue.
Now... some minor spoilers. To those of you who currently hate me for killing Syndra... I pose to you this one question: Do you really think I would kill her off? One of my favorite characters of all time? That's all the hints that you get. Props to anyone who figures out what actually happened. There are several hints throughout this chapter and the chapters that preceded this one. I politely ask that those of you who do manage to figure things out that you keep things to yourself or, if you must test your hypothesis, simply send it to me via private message. Those of you who know me from tumblr, feel free to contact me there!
As far as the epilogue that will follow this chapter goes, I have plans to make that chapter fairly long. At least as long as this chapter (~4000 words). However, this goes with some VERY IMPORTANT PRE-WARNINGS. The epilogue will be VERY triggering. Those of you who are sensitive to this kind of material, please refrain from reading it. I will delve into the exact type of triggers and give further warnings at the beginning of the epilogue.
As always, thank you everyone for making this story go so far. I never would have imagined that this story would be so successful. I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out, and I hope that you will understand why such a long amount of time was taken in the writing of this chapter. I hope to see you all in the epilogue, shorts, and fluff that will follow the conclusion of this story.