Talon, Katarina, Marcus, and Prince Jarvan IV all stood around and stared one another for quite some time. Katarina finally broke the silence with a verbalized "umph!" As Talon moved in quickly and wrapped his arms around her. The hug was sudden and awkward, but Katarina took it in for all it was worth. Clearly, Talon was quite unused to the idea of expressing his emotions, and simple pleasantries were not his strong suit either.

"Missed you too asshole. Mind telling me where you've been?" Katarina smirked.

"Little bit of everywhere, honestly. I think I was on the Shadow Isles for the majority of it though," Talon replied.

"The SHADOW ISLES?! That oaf took you to the Shadow isles?!" she exclaimed.

"Oaf? What oaf?"

"Garen! He told me he would keep you safe and he throws you on the most forsaken place in Runeterra!" Katarina was beside herself with rage.

"You endured the Isles?! Up high!" Marcus shouted as he offered Talon a high five. Talon blissfully ignored the motion and continued his conversation with Katarina.

"Well... I am here aren't I? And did anyone at the League find out about the fight?"

"Well..." she stammered.

"The wound still has a searing scar. I would have died no doubt if I was left in the League, unless a summoner patched me up. But that could have gotten both of you killed. I could care less about his fat Demacian ass, but you needed to stay safe."

"Whose fat Demacian hindquarters?! You calling me fat?!" Jarvan taunted.

"Grrr..." Talon was about to slit a few throats for the relief it would bring him.

"Shut up Jarvan. We were talking about Garen, and we were NOT talking to you," she stated.

"Oh..." Jarvan sulked before hushing up.

"Well, let's get moving shall we?" Marcus announced, trying to get the party moving forward. Despite his efforts, it seemed that a few more questions were to be thrown around.

"Where did you come from dad?! We were searching all over this continent for you!"

"Well that was dumb, I wasn't on this continent," he retorted to his daughter's remark.

"Yeah uh, I found tweedle M and tweedle J in the Void... Uh... Yeah I don't know," Talon interjected.

"... Wha?" she muttered.

"Look, we could stand and chat, but its best we head towards the Institute of War. I'm pretty sure that we have business there. Or shall we head elsewhere Marcus?"

"No, that works fine. I have research to do there as well," Marcus said.

"Haven't you done enough research, dad?" Kat asked.

"Hardly! I had just begun when I was so rudely tossed into that empty space of emptiness. I will have to have a word with Malzy..."

"Malzy?" Kat questioned.

"Just don't. I'm pretty sure he is half insane at this point," Talon answered. Marcus responded with a laugh.

"Half is QUITE generous! But I guess that I can take it!" he replied. No one commented as they turned to walk northward. It would be a lengthy journey, but they had no faster method of travel. They pursued in a relative silence: if the random babblings of Jarvan and Marcus were ignored.

"Did you have any trouble with my message?" Talon asked Katarina before the lack of sane conversation killed him.

"No, it clicked right away. I was a bit torn though... Noxus probably needed me..."

"Noxus needed you? Are they under attack?" Talon asked quickly.

"Contrary. They were invading Demacia," she replied.

"Duwhat!" Jarvan exclaimed. "We must hurry to their side!" The Demacian Prince rushed ahead of the pack and they let him be for the moment.

"Should we...?" Talon began, hoping someone would finish his thought.

"No need, he will forget where he was going and come back to my side shortly," Marcus stated intuitively.

"Well..." Talon said while clearing his throat to indicate the change in direction of the conversation. "Who were they attacking? Why? Why wouldn't it have been inside the League of Legends?" Katarina could only shake her head in response. The swift motion sent her crimson hair flowing about her head. Without even thinking, Talon reached out and pet it softly. Katarina blushed and pushed his had away before continuing her thought. Talon looked away, unsure how to respond to his actions.

"They were heading into Demacia. I have no idea why, I just know that they were heading northward. They were lead by General Swain and one of his best soldiers, Darius."

"Jericho!" Marcus shouted out of nowhere. The words made all three of them jump as they were shouted - successfully distracting Jarvan and returning him to their sides - and the attention shifted to the man in red and black garb. "We need to take his bird down!"

"His uh... What?" Talon asked while scratching his head.

"The bird! Oh blast, what is its name?" His words forced all three members to stand still as they tried to figure Marcus out.

"Any who, name aside, it is crucial! The bird is the woman! Don't you see?"

"Yes, the bird is female. Its name is Beatrice," Katarina added in, trying to push Marcus off of stray thoughts.

"Beatrice! Goodness what an awful name, wouldn't you be devastated if I named you that dear? Oh I'd have to start calling you something else and pretend like I named the dog Beatrice to explain why you had heard the name so much..." The slew of random thoughts seemed too far gone to be salvaged.

"Yup. He is insane," Kat said plainly.

"Oh, anyways, the bird is that woman he is always with. You know: long hair, wears a ring, has boobs, and stuff?" Marcus continued.

"No... No I can't say I do. That describes ALOT of woman actually," Talon responded.

"The black something... Oh I cannot think of it!"

"Is he being racist?" Kat whispered into Talon's ear as they watched the man struggle for his own words.

"Rose! The black rose! Remember that vision I had you watch in my room Talon?"

"You set that up?" the assassin asked.

"Yes, yes. It was quite the gruesome hex I had to place, but I made it work. Remember what happened?"

"Well, yeah. The bird ate the poison from his leg. But what does..." Talon's questioned was being answered before he could finish asking it.

"Bingo! Bingo bingo bingo BINGO!" Marcus announced. Rolling their eyes, Talon and Katarina awaited his continuation.

"The bird saved him! He trusts the bird! The bird IS the woman! He trusts the woman!"

"What woman..." Talon muttered before racking his brains to make sense of the words. He only knew a few people that Jericho Swain would spend time with, despite Marcus' horrendous description. Only one was a member of the Black Rose. "Evaine LeBlanc?" Talon asked.

"That's it! LeBlanc is the bird!" Marcus gleefully proclaimed.

"Wait... Like she made the bird? Is it not real or...?"

"Well, it is real. In a sense. It's like... Oh bother. Um... Oh! It's like Jarvan! Well, not this one," he stated while pointing to the Demacian man currently stabbing a rock with his broken lance. "But the one you guys know."

"Wait, so there is two Jarvan's?" Talon asked. "Kat, when was the last time you saw Jarvan?"

"A few days ago in a League match I spectated, right before he embarked to the Freljord with Ashe and a few other champions," The woman answered, although still just as lost as Talon.

"Yes, so if there are two, then one has to be fake! Don't you get it Talon? LeBlanc is all over Runeterra! She has the clone-fake-people-bird-things everywhere! Places of power, or soon to be!" Marcus' words were at long last beginning to make sense to Talon and Katarina.

"Where Marcus? What other entities are hers? Do you know?" Talon demanded, realizing the urgency of acquiring the half insane man's knowledge.

"Well, Demacia's Prince, since the real one was in the spooky place with me; the bird on Jericho's shoulder; somewhere in Freljord, but it's not Ashe or Tryndamere. Ashe wore the Banshee's Veil you currently wear," Marcus said while pointing to the pendant Talon wore around his neck, "and it would have reacted to the intense magical power of a created being had she been fake. You got close enough to Tryndamere when I had assigned you to kill the oaf that it isn't him either. Probably somewhere in the League of Legends, other than herself of course..." Talon stared at Marcus, impressed by the massive collection of thought, in addition to the simple fact that he had stayed on track with his sentences for more than ten seconds.

"But none of those positions are in power right now... Is she really a threat?" Katarina wondered aloud.

"Unless... Oh... Shit..." Talon's heart sank as he realized the motivation behind Noxus' push for Demacia.

"Unless...?" Kat pushed.

"Unless Noxus can kill King Jarvan III. That puts her Prince into power at Demacia. Jericho will be one of the strongest powers in Noxus having proved his worth by killing the King..."

"And Jericho is as good as the bird's. Oh what is its name! I always forget the name!" Marcus bantered.

"If Leblanc secretly has control of the two biggest nations in all of Runeterra... And if she really has control inside of the League..." Talon's thoughts did not need answers as most of his current party already understood the events taking place. They picked up the pace to a run towards the Institute of War, getting Jarvan to follow by telling him Demacia needed his help - which was not entirely a lie - planning to use the Prince as proof that something was aloof. Talon was not sure how he would get the idea to be heard; especially if LeBlanc really did have influences in the League. But he knew that at least Garen would listen, so long as he was actually there. If anyone knew which person was the real Prince of Demacia, it would be him.

As they ran; Talon could not help but to snicker to himself. The action caught Katarina's attention.

"What's so funny Talon?" she inquired.

"It seems I finally proved that Marcus wasn't insane, and that he really did have a reason for his actions." Katarina got the jist of where he was going and grinned.

"And yet, it only happened as he spends more time babbling to himself than to others," she finished. To emphasize the idea, they looked over to see Marcus staring at the sky, as he ran forward - likely no longer understanding why he was running - and shouting at the clouds that were not shaped enough like clouds for his liking.