Author's Note: As I said, I was more than likely going to edit this chapter, and I did. Here's the revised version of Chapter 2. Enjoy! ^^
Rise of the Titan
Chapter 2
The Seed of the Oracle
The Grand Summoner waved his hand and sent Fiora off to the infirmary where injured champions go to get their wounds checked on. He inspected the three men for a moment. He recognized that they too were exhausted and needed rest. Never before had he seen such bravery in champions to risk their lives for one another. He was happy to see that such teamwork from battle after battle on the fields of justice reflected their need to help one another.
The three men looked at each other, but only silence surrounded them. They wanted to ask the grand summoner what it was that they saw on the Crystal Scar, but like all the champions were always intimidated by one of the grand summoners. Neither one wanted to speak up to grab the answers they seeked. Once more the Grand Summoner red them like an open book,. He could tell how lost in thought they all were. Them and every other champion and summoner in the institute were also just as confused.
"Finally Twisted Fate, the one least expected to, broke the long silence. "It said "Oracle". The old stories, can't be true can it?" Twisted Fate's voice showed a hint of worry in it as he spoke. He was known for always having a cool head and collected train of thoughts, so for him to be the one actually worried about the whole situation meant it could be worse than it actually is. He looked at Jarvan and Garen one more time bowing his head in respect for the two men, "Thanks," he said giving his appreciations to Jarvan and Garen before he took off quickly from the grand hall. Twisted Fate was a prideful man and had a hard time swallowing that if it wasn't for the two Demacian men he wouldn't have survived.
The Demacian men turned their attentions towards the grand summoner. "You two need to rest. The determined looks on your faces tell me you aren't ready to let this go, but even heroes need rest. I will look into this matter with the other summoners," said the grand summoner before motioning Jarvan and Garen off.
They exited the grand hall shutting the large stone doors behind them. Jarvan sat down on the steps in front of the grand hall, removed his helmet, and wiped the sweat that collected off his brow. He remained silent thinking about what it was they had just seen. First the strange black creatures, and then Twisted Fate displaying magic they had never seen before. One surprise after another just kept hitting Jarvan, spreading a wildfire in his mind. He didn't know what to say, for once in his life he didn't know what to do, and the only hint he had was a word, which even then didn't make sense to him. His mind was in such disarray that he didn't even know what to say let alone do. All he could think about was how this was going to affect Demacia, let alone Valoran. Someone actually had the guts to launch an attack against the league of legends. Jarvan's mind was swirling with thoughts of doubt and and fear of the unknown. It wasn't until the young prince felt a very powerful strong armed man punch him in the face to snap him out of it.
Garen sighed in disappointment after punching his crown prince. "This is quite unlike you, Jarvan. Sitting here looking like you're about to cry isn't going to help anyone. Lets just find Twisted Fate and see what information we could get out of him. The worst thing that can happen is he teleports away from us." Jarvan looked up at his faithful royal guard and smiled Garen always seem to have the right words at the right time. The prince picked up his helm putting it neatly back on his head before getting up from the stone steps.
Just as they were going to make their way to find the rogue gypsy he approached the two with a thick leather bound book in his hand. With the way his nose was buried into the book meant he really wanted to get to the bottom of this matter with deep research. Twisted Fate despite being face down with all his attentions to the book he managed to stop right in front of the gold clad warrior mumbling what he was reading to himself. Finally he looked up at Jarvan hastily flipping through the pages of the book looking for a certain page he came across. Finally coming to a stop with the page he needed he, without any words shoved the book in Jarvan's hand. "You see, it's just like the old stories they used to tell us as children," started the fortune teller. "The legend of the Seed of the Oracle."
Jarvan looked up at Twisted Fate raising an eyebrow, his excited tone of voice was rather off for someone like him. He looked back at the book reading the page that Twisted Fate was so excited to find. Jarvan skimmed through the page curious about what the gypsy was on to. The book read that the Seed of the Oracle was an ancient power that get passed down from generation to generation for 700 years. Once the 700 years were up a fearsome creature called the Titan raises from it's slumber to destroy all life on Runeterra and replants the seeds of life. Before going back to sleep he gives a piece of it's power to one of those seeds. That is what they call the Oracle. Jarvan snapped the book shut handing it to Garen. "You think this is the reason why someone has the guts to attack the League of Legends."
Twisted Fate, with half a mind to give Jarvan one of his signature gold cards to his face, merely sighed. One of his many childhood stories was just shot down by the snotty Demacian prince. "You heard those creatures," spoke Twisted Fate and he took the book back from Garen. "I highly doubt that the Institute would hold books that were just all old folklore. There must be some truths behind it. They tell similar stories in the major tribes of Freljord. What makes things more ironic that Ashe was on the Crystal Scar with me when it happened."
Jarvan and Garen looked at each other and then back at the fortune teller, wondering just where he keeps his vast knowledge of information. There had to be more about the Seed of the Oracle than just a passage from a book and an old story passed down. The two Demacians had the same thing on their minds, and that was wanting to get to the bottom of this. Just why would someone attack the League of Legends and try and break the peace that the summoners has tried to set out for them? There was so many unanswered questions, that just sent their minds spinning in circles. Jarvan had an idea, that just might work. Now feeling the same energy that Twisted Fate had, Jarvan motioned for the fortune teller and his childhood friend to follow him.
Upon entering of the largest room of the Institute, Jarvan proceeded to search the library leaving Garen and Twisted Fate behind and a little dumbfounded. Finally collecting themselves Garen turned his attentions to the rouge gypsy in hopes he could get some answers of his own. A mysterious man like Twisted Fate now going out of his way to defend people and lend his expertise. To Garen, Twisted Fate always looked like a man who would want something in return, but he was openly helping them. It was time he got what he wanted out of the other man. He approached Twisted Fate and got an eyebrow raised at him return. Garen inspected the man's posture and could already tell the lithe man was unamused.
"Where do you find such information?" asked the Demacian guard, and he only got the same response. Garen was a little upset himself that Twisted Fate would give him the cold shoulder but not Jarvan. "Okay then...how do you know so much? You've already displayed a magic not practiced by many because of it's instability, and you've shown a signs of knowledge as if you've been studying engineering in Piltover. Just who are you Twisted Fate?"
At first all you heard was a small noise erupt from Twisted Fate, as he lowered his hat. His small noises erupted into a chuckle, and soon fortune teller was into a fit of laughter mocking Garen. The Demacian royal guard actually expected him just to tell him who he was; to just give him all his secrets just because he demanded it. Where Twisted Fate comes from it doesn't work that way. You have to work for the information you want and then some. Sometimes you may end up doing things you're not exactly proud of but, in the shady world of the underground you'll never regret it in the end. For the rogue gypsy he made his earnings when he partnered with Malcom Graves and ran the underground gambling circuits of Noxus and Demacia, so when Garen started demanding things from him like he was another servant of his noble court, Twisted Fate was not too pleased. Like a gust of wind the fortune teller lept up giving Garen a swift kick to his temple knocking him against the bookshelf, dropping a few leather bound books to the ground, and another swift kick from his right leg sent Garen to the ground along side those books. With a sly grin, Twisted Fate placed a foot on Garen's chest leaning down and holding a bright glowing gold card in front of his face. The Demacian noble saw the assassin's look in his eye and could understand now why despite being cool and calm head that he was, he was still a feared champion of the League of Legends.
Before Twisted Fate could open his mouth and tell Garen his mistake, they were interrupted by Jarvan's return, with a snickering Ezreal behind him. The young explorer always thought Garen had what was coming to him, but never thought he'd be put down by the lithe figure that is Twisted Fate. Ezreal's snickers and chuckles were interrupted Jarvan's voice. "Are you two done playing around?" he asked.
Garen gave a huff of annoyance after being let up by Twisted Fate. He rubbed his temple where the fortune teller had kicked him and looked over at him only to see that Twisted Fate had his hat tipped down hiding his grin. Both he and Garen knew that if they were going to solve this, they were going to have to work together. Garen was the type of strong arm they needed to fight their way through, and Twisted Fate was the kind of brains they needed to obtain the right information. Twisted Fate just had to show Garen not to overstep his boundaries if he was going to play "happy adventurers" with them. Garen turned his attentions to Jarvan who continued his conversation with the young blonde asking if he possibly knew anything about what had happened to Ashe. He kept a close eye on Twisted Fate paying very little attention to what Jarvan and Ezreal had to say to each other. He started to feel rather uneasy the more his attentions drove itself away from his crown prince, but as his attention was slowly dragged away his eyes grew wide at the sight his eyes laid upon.
Twisted Fate had a strong grip on his left arm as it shook uncontrollably, he could barely maintain the grip he had on the card in his hand. Garen tilted his head as to what was going on, as for the fortune teller he felt strange things happening to him. His eyes showed him blood that dripped down his arm and a felt a thick black vein slowly creeping up his neck. These nightmares had been happening since he had first joined the league and had been the reason why he's always kept a steady distance from every champion and summoners as well, but as of late the nightmares had been getting worse and could see them while he was wide awake. What was happening to him he wondered, he'd never tell.
When everything was gone suddenly and his arm stopped shaking he looked up at Garen who was dumbfounded as to what he had just seen. Like Garen before he huffed and took off from the library with his long coat trailing behind him. The Demacian guard bent down and picked up the card Twisted Fate had dropped. The card had a picture of a compass on a wheel with a sword in the center pointed upwards. Around the picture was a beautiful decoration of golden vines and a scroll at the bottom that read "The Wheel of Fortune". "He gets more mysterious by the minute," Garen mumbled to himself. "Just what is happening?"
"Garen!" shouted Jarvan getting his attention. Jarvan looked around discovering they were one man short. Jarvan sighed to himself shaking his head in disappointment, already mentally telling himself that this was going to be a long road. He turned back to Ezreal finishing his business with the young man. "Take care of yourself Ezreal, and thank you for all your help." Ezreal bowed his head in respect of the prince. His opinions having completely changed about the prince. He thought all Demacians (except for a lovely looking blonde light mage) were all snotty and probably don't get out much of their fancy manors but he was completely wrong.
The Demacian prince approached Garen still a little disappointed but it subsided quickly knowing that there were more things to be concerned about. Just as swordsman was about to open his mouth to say something he was immediately interrupted by Jarvan. "Just because it's not Demacian, doesn't mean it can't be trusted," sighing Jarvan continued, "And besides the fortune teller is the only lead we have right now as to what those creatures are." Garen nodded, he knew not to question Jarvan's judgement, so he just hung his head a little in response.
Jarvan and Garen walked out of the library to see that the fortune teller was just standing by the doorway. The prince gave a sigh of relief having thought that his faithful companion had scared away their only guide. Jarvan started to wonder why Twisted Fate was so willing to help them despite being the type who likes to keep his distance. Did he want a reward in the end? That wouldn't surprise the prince in the least if thats what it was. He didn't know much about the history of the fortune teller but he did seem like the shady type. The only stories he knew about the gypsy clans of Valoran were that they've been around since before the Lightshield dynasty started.
Twisted Fate pushed himself off the wall he had his back against and held out his hand to Garen. The Demacian soldier quickly took note of this and handed the rouge gypsy his one of many precious cards. The Card Master fumbled with it though his fingers before one last flick of the wrist and letting it mysteriously disappear. Garen didn't let himself get too attached to lithe man's actions and turned his attentions back towards Jarvan.
Jarvan looked to see that he had the attentions of both men and cleared his throat. "According to Ezreal, rumors have it Ashe didn't return from the Crystal Scar, nor is she in the Institute any more. Apparently she was grabbed by bandits only a few hours ago while we were fighting on the Crystal Scar. To get her help we must first help her."
"There's got to be more to it. I highly doubt the Queen of Freljord would just be nabbed by simple bandits," responded Twisted Fate as he pulled a card of the top of a deck of cards, in which to both Demacian men mysteriously appeared. Jarvan and Garen watched him as he inspected the card for a moment. Planted on his face was another mischievous grin followed by a light chuckle before lifting his hat a moment to get a view of the taller men and their reactions. He said nothing but merely stared at the two Demacian men. "There's gonna be a storm." He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and proceeded down the hall. Jarvan and Garen looked at one another and the hastily looked out the window near by, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.