Quinn enters the room quietly, silently closing the door behind her. The chamber is a simple one, a small white room with a bed and a few chairs and a familiar battered vampire strapped to the mattress, sweating bullets. Soraka is also present here, the healer nods at her and offers her a polite smile as Quinn numbly sits on one of the vacant chairs next to the bed.
"How is she faring?"
Soraka remains silent for a moment and then sighs in defeat as the scout proceeds to slip a hand on top of the vampire's bandaged fingers before dully noting how the gauze around the injured area has already started turning crimson.
"There is no change so far, but she has at least stopped crying, even though I am not sure if that's a good or a bad sign."
Quinn just nods, she leans in and presses her lips on the vampire's hair before she turns back to face Soraka only to notice the Starchild's faint smile, but the celestial healer doesn't comment or mock her and the two of them just let the room be engulfed in comfortable silence for a few more moments. A silence only broken by the continuous beeping sound emitted by the heart monitor and Shauna's labored breathing that is, until Quinn finally decides to speak her mind.
"I don't mean to sound rude or offend you, Starchild, but you should really get some rest. You are looking utterly exhausted."
Soraka just nods while gazing towards her aiming those compassionate gorgeous orbs of golden serenity straight into the scout's sun-kissed, drained features and Quinn can only stare at the healer captivated by those mesmerizing eyes.
"No offence taken, Janna will be replacing me shortly, but you should really follow your own advice. I heard that you fainted while conversing with Ryze a little while ago."
Quinn sighs and quickly averts her eyes, but there is nothing of interest inside the white sterilized room except from Shauna and when her eyes land on the ashen faced vampire, Quinn's eyes are suddenly overwhelmed with tears.
"But she is like that because of me! I hated her, I hated her so much that I forcefully bonded our souls together in order to make her suffer and I tormented her… And then… and then Shauna saved my life and told me that she loved me and I just laughed in her face and called her a heartless monster, breaking her heart. And now… now she is reliving her most painful memories, getting tortured inside her very own mind so I can keep stomping her heart at my own convenience and it hurts, it hurts like hell and there is nothing I can do to help her."
Pale purple arms suddenly wrap around her frame and Quinn sniffles as the Starchild starts murmuring sweet nothings in her ear.
"Shhh… It's ok, Shauna isn't going to die and there is no way that she hates you. She came back to life just to soothe you remember?"
And when the ranger nods with a deep breath and a sniffle a beaming smile blooms on the healer's face.
"Have I ever told you about my first encounter with the grumpy vampire hunter?"
Quinn shakes her head and even cracks a smile after listening to Soraka's rather appropriate description of the Night Hunter.
"It was at the most troubled time of my life. My celestial sisters residing in the sky had exiled me, my powers were weakened considerably and a mad werewolf-man was aiming for my life. After some consideration, the Ionian government decided to appoint me a bodyguard, at least until I had somehow recovered my strength and since Akali was busy with the Kinkou and Irelia was busy with her duties as a Captain, we had to result in accepting the help of outsiders. Various heroes and vagabonds answered our pleas for help, drawn by the prospect of fame and vast riches and one of them was our favorite brooding huntress, carrying her signature weapon and silver crossbow bolts. "
Quinn just nods to let Soraka know that she is still paying attention and the healer continues her narration, speaking with the practiced smooth voice of a veteran storyteller.
"But Karma didn't want to just trust my safety on a random crook trying to land some easy coin, you see so she arranged for an interview of sorts. Each and every one of my potential bodyguard would meet and converse with her and some of the most renowned Ionian champions before Akali's replacement was officially decided. The first few interviews were rather short and uneventful and it didn't take us much time to realize that most of my future guardians were just bandits and lowlifes searching for easy coin. And then, there was Shauna."
Soraka smiles and her eyes tenderly move towards the vampire sending her a soft glance as if embracing her and Quinn remains silent impatiently hanging on the Starshild's lips, fascinated by the healer's story.
"The night had almost fallen when the last candidate finally entered the room and sat in front of me, surrounded by a handful of Ionian champions and I can still remember how Irelia had raised a curious eyebrow at the time and Karma had suddenly stiffened only to calm down a moment later and shoot Akali a quick soothing glance before the ninja's eager Kamas descended on the strange woman. Karma can perceive the state of a person's soul you see and whatever she saw while gazing at the rugged vagabond must have unnerved her greatly if it made her lose her cool and Akali had instantly perceived the duchess' reaction as a sign of imminent danger, springing into action."
Quinn just nods allowing the healer to continue and Soraka smiles widely while reminiscing of the distant events.
"I don't really blame Akali for almost attacking Vayne at the time, the woman sitting in front of me was a mess you see, completely different from the woman you and I now know. Pale and frail and skinny to the point of sickness, wrapped in a dusty traveling cloak and wearing a weird pair of cracked scarlet goggles, Shauna looked like the reanimated corpse of a bandit that had only decided to rise from its grave to gnaw on the unsuspecting people it used to prey upon. The silver tipped bolts loaded in the stranger's crossbows was what really drew Akali's gaze and convinced Irelia that Vayne wasn't just a random crook looking for profit, while Karma always the great host, offered the traveler a word of greetings and a steamy cup of tea. And that was later revealed to be a mistake on the duchess part, you see, because even though Karma's offer was supposed to be a gesture of goodwill and hospitality, Vayne was still mourning her lost humanity and the fragrant liquid inside the cap could only serve as a reminder of her current situation. That must have greatly offended Vayne, because when I approached her in order to pass her the sugar and ask her how she liked her tea Shauna had smiled mischievously, sinisterly even, intentionally showing me her sharp canines through her cracked lips and I can still clearly remember her answer even to this day."
Quinn gazes at her questionably and Soraka can't help but crack a smile, trying to stifle her laughter.
"Ten spoonfuls of blood, no sugar. So start bleeding."
Quinn blinks and the healer can't help, but burst into a fit of laughter and the scout's lips tug into a smile before she even realizes it.
"What happened next? I am guessing your friends didn't really like her answer."
Soraka nods quickly and takes a few deep breaths while her laughter starts fading and then gazes back at the scout with amused golden eyes.
"Oh, no they didn't. Before I even realized what was happening Akali was suddenly on top of her, Kamas raised to strike, while Irelia's blades started rapidly spinning around us clearly agitated, Shen didn't even bat an eyelid and Karma fell on the floor laughing and everyone had to pause and look at her because Karma had never lost her composure before in front of quests or evn war councils. And then I turned around and when I looked at the ragged vampire, Shauna was also having a crooked smile on her lips even though it looked kind of forced and then I realized that that horrible death threat was nothing more than Shauna's awkward attempt to break the ice."
Soraka winks and Quinn has to blink as her smile turns into an expression of pure disbelief.
"You are kidding me, right? Even Vayne couldn't be that bad at socializing. I mean yeah, she tends to keep to herself, but joking about something like that in front of the Captain of the Guard and the Duchess of Ionia? That's a whole new level of stupid!"
"Yes, yes she did and Karma instantly appointed her as my new bodyguard much to the displeasure of a certain female ninja."
The healer just smirks and Quinn frowns remembering her previous talk with the Kinkou ninja, the one about Akali asking her if Vayne was threatening her life and she shrugs, shaking her head in order to clear the image of the troubled medical ninja and then she blinks almost missing the motherly smile of the Starchild, directed at her with gold compassionate eyes.
"Shauna saved my life a lot of times during the next few weeks we spend together and I soon learned that the grumpy vampire that everyone considered a ragged beggar wasn't as frail or weak-minded as everyone though her to be."
The purple arms move away as Janna enters the room eyeing them curiously and the healer quickly releases her as she pushes her tenderly towards the still slumbering vampire.
"Don't be afraid to place your faith in Shauna, Quinn. This grumpy vampire has yet to let me down even after all those years we have known each other and there is no doubt in my mind that Shauna will somehow manage to find her way back to you, even if she has to drag herself though the very gates of hell in order to reach you."
xxxxxxxx
Vayne coughs and another lungful of blood spills on the silver plating of her cage, it looks like Nocturne has finally gotten tired of her and shoved her back on the Box a few hours after she stopped reacting to his presence. The specter was probably hiding, biding its time until the Summoners finally managed to purge him from her mind and he had no longer any more use for a broken toy like herself. A voiceless sigh, Shauna presses her face against the scorching metal as her body slips back on the floor and this time she doesn't have the strength to turn around and lay on her back, so she just lets the purifying element fry the side of her face until her skin starts boiling.
"Not looking so good, kid."
A pair of strong arms abruptly lift her and suddenly Vayne is placed against one of the walls of her cage, bloodshot eyes slowly open, briefly meeting mischievous white eyes before sliding closed once again with another weak cough and a trickle of crimson. A handkerchief is pressed against her lips, a hand starts rummaging around her rags, inspecting her injuries. The stranger can't help but release a loud whistle.
"Wow, the demon got you good, kid. Even the goat-healer's magic won't help you survive at this point. You will probably be dead by dawn."
Vayne remains silent, her eyes still closed as she is torn between trying to find a more comfortable position that doesn't hurt her body and staying still to reduce her blood loss. It probably won't make any difference. The man then starts slapping her unhurt cheek repeatedly and Shauna opens a single muddy eye in order to glare at him, the slaps doesn't hurt that much compared to her other wounds, but they are certainly annoying. The man smiles charmingly and Shauna scoffs, bleeding lips forming silent sentences.
-You're not even here.-
"Yes, but you are and if you fall asleep right know you won't wake up again."
Shauna nods, but her eyelids instantly start closing and the man slaps her again. Vayne growls weakly.
-The fuck you want, Fate?-
"Me, nothing, I am not even here remember? Your subconscious is trying to tell you something, and unless you start healing soon you won't be here for long either."
Her lips move again, more scarlet droplets hit the floor and start sizzling and the man wipes her mouth, ever the gentleman.
-Can't heal… I am too weak and.. Nocturne holds the reigns of my mind... and body.-
The gambler shakes his head and starts inspecting a small gash under her left eye, now covered in black charred flesh.
"That's what we both thought until you jumpstarted your heart yesterday. What did you carve into your flesh, Vayne?"
Shauna just whimpers, her eyes suddenly lose focus and she starts losing consciousness only to wake up with a silent scream when Twisted Fate jabs his fingers into the bleeding mess that used to be the right collarbone.
"Sorry about that, now tell me about the symbol."
The woman's lips are moving, forming words even while trembling from exhaustion.
-Dice.. Hollow Dice… of Fate-
The man silently nods absentmindedly making his cowboy hat flutter around aimlessly.
"Yes, that's good, you casted the Hollow Dice of Fate. You can still remember that at least, but you have to tell me, what does the symbol mean to you?"
The blood loss is starting to take its toll on her, her eyesight starts blurring and Fate has to keep poking at her wounds in order to keep her awake.
"Shauna! Tell me about the Dice, you can still remember the inscription process, right? Of course you remember! Quinn was currently dying in front of you, there is no way you could have possibly forgotten that."
Blink, another slap, the room is steadily fading.
"Remember, Quinn was crying, you started the ritual, snapped your fangs and then carved a single rune under each eye! What was its meaning?"
It hurts, everything hurts so much and Vayne suddenly wishes that she was dead and that her parents' killer had actually finished the job that terrible, nightmarish night. The vampire slowly starts sliding back on the burning floor and the scorching silver and the light in her eyes dims even farther as her conciousness starts fading, scattering across the abyss of her mind. No one is going to miss her anyway.
-No remember-
Everything is dark for a moment and then she wakes up and Twisted Fate is repeatedly slamming her head against the silver plating of the Box, scorching her head and face and Vayne instantly opens her mouth and tries to cry out in pain, but she only succeeds in spilling even more blood on the plating.
"No, don't go back to sleep! Close your eyes again and..
Another slap and then another, her whole body is now hurting even more than before and her eyes are soon welling with tears.
-Stop.. Hurting.. me.. I am… Going to.. fucking.. kill.. you-
Vayne growls and hisses flashing her fangless teeth, but the man just laughs bitterly and slaps her again as if to rile her.
"No, you won't, you don't even get it. I am you, Shauna, so you are the one practically kicking your own ass inside your cage. Now tell me about the damn symbol and I promise to stop hitting us. Come on, I really dislike hurting you."
-Symbol.. symbol.. Dice of Fate..-
"Yes, yes, it's the fucking Dice of Fate and I am currently disguised as a gambler in order to emphasize that point. I obviously know about the damn symbol. Now tell me what in the void's name does it mean for You, I mean Us, for Shauna fucking Vayne!''
- Don't.. Know… Don't.. Remember..-
The tears are finally rolling down her cheeks mixing with her blood and much to the vampire's chagrin Fate is also crying, shedding tears of his own as the cage starts darkening and her vision fades to black. A small sob leaves her useless throat as the gambler embraces her tightly.
"Shauna, I know that you are in a great deal of pain right now and that all you want to do is just let go and surrender to death, but if you give up now everything will end and we are never going to see our mate again."
Vayne whimpers and when she opens her eyes again there is no gambler wearing expensive suits and a cowboy hat in front of her anymore, but only a younger version of herself pinning her with wet innocent eyes brimming with tears, while stroking her face.
"Do you remember Quinn's voice? Hm? She was usually mocking us, but sometimes she would call our name softly while we were in pain or injured and our wounds would suddenly hurt just a little bit less as if her voice could magically mend our bodies."
Vayne nods and Little Shauna continues as the scenery starts disappearing and tendrils of darkness start wrapping around their throats.
"And she is so kind, remember? She is supposed to hate us, but she fed us with her blood when we were hungry and even let us sleep next to her on a few rare occasions. Do you remember that, Shauna? Do you still remember our mate's warmth?"
-Yes-
Little Vayne climbs on her lap and stands on her toes until the huntress can peer into her smothering ruby eyes and then smiles weakly.
"You and I have lost everything, Shauna. Everything important, everything we ever loved, cherished and cared about was ruthlessly snatched away from us. Taken by the cruel hand of fate and its pawns, be it humans, beasts, dream demons or vampires."
-I know-
The child's eyes are consuming her, they are so innocent and sorrowful and even when the tears start rolling down her cheeks Shauna can still see the sparks of determination burning brightly inside those young shining pools of crimson.
" Quinn is the only one we have left. Please don't let this world also take her away from us. Please, don't let them snatch away our important person. I am begging you, please tell me what did you inscribe on our own flesh and bones?"
Shauna whimpers and as the child starts shaking her motionless body, she starts crying, not because she can't even see a thing anymore or because her final strength is leaving her, but because a scene starts playing in front of her eyes and she doesn't want to see her Birdie in pain.
/Quinn is laying on her bed, wailing and Shauna snaps her fangs and gazes at the woman that she now knows that will never become her mate, and as the bone start dancing across her skin and her flesh starts parting under its pressure, Shauna does something she have never done after her parent's death. She prays.
She prays for the spirits of the Freljord to save her partner instead of herself and the Eye of Shurima to grant Nocturne safe passage into her mind. She begs the Trader deities of Biljewater to chain the Specter inside her soul and urges the shades of the Shadow Isles to come out of their watery graves and crawl under her skin dragging the Eternal Nightmare with them, and above all else she prays for the scout.
She prays for Quinn's safety and the success of the ritual and as she lays next to the dying woman and she pulls the scout closer, Shauna raises her eyes towards the ceiling and prays that if no one up there likes her enough to help her save her mate, that they at least hate her enough to want to see Nocturne defile her mind. And then the shade suddenly breaks into her mind severing her connection with the outside and as her consciousness begins to fade and her eyes land on the sleeping scout, the symbol is infused with the power of a single word and Shauna's smile suddenly turns into an expression of pure horror./
Vayne is choking.
"Hope.. Hope that everyone hates me, Hope that this world wants to see me suffer. Hope that Nocturne will find me more appetizing than Quinn and desire to break my mind instead of her own. Hope that even though I have never casted a single spell in my whole life, I will somehow be able to save my mate."
The adult dies, the child hugs the motionless body and then dies too and not even a heartbeat later Shauna opens her eyes only to stare at the smiling visage of her adult self. She blinks, lowering her eyes to gaze into her tiny arms still wrapped around the shade and then blinks as Older Shauna leans in and kisses her cheek softly.
"You did it."
"How? I was the injured one and you were the child, that's can't be possible."
The shade just shrugs and someone outside of the Box starts screaming and then another one and another one and Shauna is about to go deaf when the shade casually waves towards the door and the cage is suddenly engulfed in silence. Shauna slowly removes her hands from the specter, carefully avoiding looking into the vampire's flickering eyes until her back is safely pressed against the opposite wall of her prison.
"You are not me and you are not Nocturne either. Who the fuck are you?"
And when her older self raises her eyes and their gazes meet, the fake vampire starts laughing softly and even though the sound doesn't resemble the Eternal Nightmare's mad crackle and even thought the laughter is not quite sinister, Shauna finds it equally terrifying. But the laughter dies quickly and the smile shrinks and when Vayne finally gazes into the creature wearing her face, her older self is gazing at her with soft red eyes.
"I have many names uttered in countless languages, but for you I am Hope."
"…So, you are the Dice?"
The creature gestures for her to move closer and Vayne silently obeys until she abruptly finds herself seated on the specter's lap with her cheek pressed against her older self's shoulder and the creature's arms carefully wrapped around her waist.
"Maybe. It doesn't really matter, you only need to know that I will keep you safe until your friends rescue you and then we will part."
The shade is warm, but Vayne involuntary shivers and her mouth opens before she even realizes it.
"…Why?"
The creature pauses for a moment and then starts rubbing small soothing circle's around the child's trembling back although somewhat awkwardly.
"You want me to take residence in your mind?"
"No."
The child shakes its head vigorously and the creature just smiles at her kindly.
"Then, I won't, I promise"
Shauna closes her eyes, she knows that she has to keep pressuring the shade for answers, but the woman is warm and soft and her mind hasn't rested for what feels like decades.
"What I really meant to ask you was, why are you helping me?"
Her eyelids are heavy and her mind is foggy, but the woman remains silent and Vayne feels that that in itself is some kind of answer. A sudden realization suddenly crosses her mind as the cage starts fading and her consciousness slowly disappears.
"Ah.. I see, Hope. That was also the name of my late mother, wasn't it? It's been so long since I last thought of that life. So.. I am probably wrong."
The woman just smiles and presses another kiss on the unconscious child's forehead before her gaze travels across the burning walls of the cage only to stop at a faint glimmer of sunlight slipping through a small crack near the ceiling and her smile widens.
"Try getting some sleep, Sweetie. Your friends are coming to save you."
And then Quinn wakes up and she gasps, breathing heavily and even though Soraka is right in front of her, frantically asking for her wellbeing while almost having a heart attack the scout ignores her. Because she is pretty sure that the fake vampire has just met her gaze and she can still remember the woman's knowing smile when her eyes landed on the sleeping child as if the creature has somehow given her her blessing and Quinn still can't stop trembling because her arm is currently bleeding and there is a single word carved in her flesh, written in messy crimson letters. A single four letter word holding the key to Shauna's freedom. Hope. The scout is already out of the infirmary and halfway to Ryze's study before Soraka can even register her absence.
Writer's Note: Aaand that's the second part of chapter twenty five and it is still double the size of a regular chapter, sigh. Now I mentioned before that a story can take multiple paths, that's both the most frustrating and the most enjoyable part of writing for me and I usually end up writing similar story setting just to explore those other paths I avoided in my last writing attempt, but I usually keep some of the elements I really like. A good example of discarded ideas in this chapter would be Hope.
We don't really know the origin of the shade antagonizing Nocturne, so Hope could be a forgotten god that listened to Vayne's prayers and took pity on her, or maybe the Dice is actually a self-aware magical symbol trying to break the shackles bestowed to it by humanity, offering Shauna shelter in exchange for her services in order to free itself. Vayne could become a really dangerous individual if she had those kind of allies at her disposal and then we would have a lot of political games with nations trying to win her favor and her feud with Jarvan.
Or Hope could be something Vayne created while going mad from the pain and tortures and we would then realize that Shauna imagined the whole exchange between them. Or some other parts of Shauna started changing place with her, suiciding in order to keep the original Shauna alive, chipping her soul every time one of them died and so Hope and Little Shauna are two of those parts. Little Shauna would then symbolize Vayne's lost innocence or maybe the part of her that tries to connect with people and Hope would then be her compassion and protective nature and Vayne would lose those qualities forever and awaken from her slumber as a coldblooded murderer. Or you know, Hope could just be Nocturne playing some twisted mind game with her. And that's only the ideas I can still remember right now, almost a week after writing this chapter. I think there was also something about Zilean and Diana... Choices, choices