Chapter 5: Beleaguered
Sorry to keep you waiting.
"So why were you tied up anyway?"
"Oh that was my own fault; I tripped on a box of microphone cables when I walked in."
"But… you float; how do you trip on something when you float"?"
"Uhmm… Oh look Sona's back."
As Nami deflects the conversation Sona floats in now returned from changing into her regular attire, and apparently changing her hair color, I'd have to ask her how she does that later as I've always had a hard time with hair when I try to morph.
"Sorry that took so long, I ended up tripping on some loose cables on my way back."
Nami tries to suppress her laughter as I decide ignorance is bliss in this context and let Sona continue speaking… err you know what I mean.
"So now that the concert is over what do you two want to do?"
"Uhh beg your pardon miss Sona?"
"Well I don't get many opportunities to come out to Piltover so I thought the three of us could have a bit of fun before Nami and I head back to the institute."
Sona's words cause a realization for me that both Sona and Nami have lives of their own and things they have to do and I couldn't cling to them like a frightened child… even though that's basically what I am. I try to force my fears aside as the word 'Institute' reminds me of something I had read recently, but I couldn't remember if it was about robots kidnapping people or something about a League…
"Uhh What is this Institute your referring to Sona? I think I've heard about it briefly before but I don't know what it is."
Sona Glances over to Nami with a puzzled look as though she expected Nami to have explained this to me before but Nami just shrugs with another cute face and Sona floats over and sits down on the bench beside me giving me a chance to see her dress closer… I think this one actually shows more skin somehow.
"Well I'll do my best to explain it without taking hours; about twenty years ago a group of summoners who are very powerful mages banded together to create a means of governing the rapidly growing threat of war and strife and finding a peaceful means of settling conflicts between the city-states of Runeterra, so they created 'The Institute of War'; a place where they would house and train powerful mages to work together and also keep more dangerous and powerful magic restrained, but there is one more purpose the Institute provides; a chance."
"A chance for what?"
"Near anything Mora; the institute needs champions: people like me and Nami who have powers beyond that of the average person so they can keep balance and order by having us participate in 'The League of Legends', events that pit people against each other in a magic arena where death doesn't last and conflicts don't need to end with bloodshed, calling on heroes from all across Runeterra, so differences can be settled in the rift as apposed to armies slaughtering each other and razing the land. And that Mora; is the institute of war."
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…
"Oh crap I think she passed out again!"
Nami's concern snaps me out of my stupor,
"Sorry about that I just… I think my mind froze trying to process all of that… my mind is like forty percent computer so I think that's possible."
"Wait what does she mean by that."
Nami gives Sona an abridged short version of my story to explain how I'm goo and metal that looks human, it was a bit awkward and Sona seemed even more confused by the end of it but brushed it off and muttered something about meeting stranger beings.
"Well now that that's out of the way I think I have an idea for what we could all do although it would have to wait until tomorrow; would you two be available then?"
"Well I got no plans and Mora has, well nothing so she's free… that sounded a lot less terrible in my head."
After Nami made plans with Sona we made our way back to Ezreal's house and Nami profusely apologized the whole way home while I tried to reassure her at this point I had enough head trauma to be mostly over the events, though my choice of words seemed to have only made things more awkward.
"So are you sure Ezreal wont mind us staying another night?"
"Nahh its totally fine, I crash here all the time and he never says anything about it, besides if he wasn't expecting us why would he leave the door unlo-"
As Nami opens the door and we step inside she pauses mid sentence and stares across the room, I manage to worm in beside her and see what apparently stunned her as across the room I see Ezreal lying on his couch kissing a young woman with straight blond hair, I couldn't see much more of her from this angle so I had no other details yet but shortly after Nami opened the door the two paused mid kiss and stared over at us, for some reason everyone just kinda stared at each other in silence for a few minutes until Ezreal sits up quickly causing the woman to fall off the couch but the two of them quickly brush themselves off and straighten there clothes and try to act composed as Ezreal welcomes us back;
"Nami, Mora; how nice to see you… how was the concert?"
Nami and Ezreal start making some awkward small talk with each other so I go to see the young woman still sitting on the floor by the couch, I also took a moment to observe her looks as I always seem to do that when I meet someone; she had straight blond hair that fell to her shoulders, she had bright blue eyes that seemed to almost glow, she had a modest frame that was showcased by some tight blue pants and a black undershirt, I could see some light plate-mail lying at the end of the couch that guessing by the size belonged to her. After trying to look her over without being creepy I sit down beside her and offer my hand;
"Hello, my name is Mora."
The young woman looks at me for a moment and seems somewhat confused but smiles and shakes my hand and replies;
"Nice to meet you, my name is Luxanna Crownguard, but you can call me Lux."
When she tells me her name I get a weird sense of Jamais vu and a quick burst of rage shoots through my mind, it passes as soon as it came so I figured it was probably just my head trauma acting up again and continue my conversation with Lux;
"Lux… I think Ezreal mentioned you while he saved me from the tunnels the other day."
"He saved you? Well no wonder he was so quiet today, he's so shy when he does something heroic; especially if it involves a pretty girl like you."
I can feel my face turn slightly red, blushing I think its called, at her comment Ezreal yells her name and she giggles a bit as apparently she intended to embarrass him a bit, I had read that some young couples do that but I really didn't understand it. After some time had passed the awkward tension settled and Nami herded me into the guest room I had been in earlier that day and closes the door behind her and sighs aloud.
"Well I think I filled my awkward quota for the next month or so today."
Nami flops onto the bed and curls up on the bed like a dog; I would say this is odd but frankly I still know very little about the Marai and their ways, I also get in the bed and pull the blankets over myself causing Nami to stretch and adjust her positioning ending up lying on her side more like a human would, I found myself caught in a weird combination of comfort and unease as I lay beside Nami in the bed; I suppose it was the comfort of someone I know and trust being so close and the unease that I was sharing a bed with someone, tough I suppose anyone would feel weird if they spent there entire life alone at night and then one day they share a bed with a good friend. After a few minutes I get into a comfortable position and let the sound of Nami's bubbly breathing lull me to sleep.
"Hey Nami; If you're a mermaid who always has a wave of water and I'm a slime thing how is it possible we didn't get the bed wet?"
"The fact that is your biggest concern astounds me."
I decide to just accept the fact my life is going to be full of logical impossibilities and continue eating my toast when Lux walks in to the breakfast nook;
"Good morning you two, sleep well?"
Lux's bright smile was practically contagious as she pulled out a chair beside me and sat down, she practically glowed as the sun shone down on her through the window but my guess is that's from her magical abilities as they appear to be based around light manipulation; I managed to figure that out when I found her staff propped against the table this morning.
"Mornin' Lux, yeah we slept fine; probably because we were half exhausted from the Pentakill concert!"
Nami excitedly started dancing on her chair causing a bit of water to splash onto the floor, its almost like she becomes a child simply out of her enjoyment, I just can't really relate to having unfettered joy in a given situation… this toast need more butter.
"So Mora, Ezreal didn't tell me much about last night and I was hoping I'd get to know you a bit better; If your okay with that I mean." Lux tilts her head to the side a bit and smiles again and I feel compelled to spill my heart to her, either she has some mental manipulation capabilities or she's just really damn cute,
"Well there isn't really a whole lot to me but I'll do my best; My name is actually Morphine but that's not as easy to say as Mora, I'm a from Zaun and my best friend is a Marai I've known for less than seventy-two hours… oh and I'm also made of slime and metal."
Lux takes this information surprisingly well and simply continues eating some toast while nodding contemplatively… wait isn't that my toast?
"Zaun huh? Well that explains your distinct eye colour, pretty common trait; although the slime thing did catch me off guard a bit because you look so real… can I touch you?"
Nami spits a bit of milk out while attempting to say something about 'phrasing' and I pull up my shirt to expose my stomach and let Lux poke at my 'flesh':
"Wow, if you hadn't told me I don't think I'd ever figure out you weren't human; so when you eat do you actually form a stomach or does it just dissolve into your being?"
Lux continued to ask me a number of questions without giving me a moment to answer as she kept poking and prodding at different parts of my body, I don't know a whole lot about basic human interaction but I don't think this is quite normal.
"Alright Lux I think that's enough; you keep that up and Ezreal might get jealous."
Nami quips as she tugs at Lux's shirt and coaxes her off me, Nami then sits beside me and whispers to me,
"Sorry about that; she gets really excited at a new learning opportunity, it took her brother and two other Demacian soldiers to get her to leave me alone."
Nami briefly shivers as she recalls the event, while I awkwardly glance at Lux who is still at the table but blushes and looks away probably embarrassed by her behavior.
Before the situation can get any more awkward… assuming that would even be possible: Ezreal walks out into the kitchen and greets us; "Good morning ladies, hope you all slept well; I know Lux and I did."
"Phrasing."
Nami's mention of the word prompts Lux to spit out a bit of her juice while Ezreal's face turns deep red while I'm still trying to understand what she meant, after everyone calmed down a minute Ezreal grabs a chair and takes some toast while muttering something under his breath wondering why he lets Nami stay so often but its mostly inaudible over the sounds of the rest of the room. From that point onward breakfast was rather quiet until later in the morning when Ezreal and Lux left for different destinations I wasn't privy too because I still have no idea where anything is in this city but Nami soon gathered me to go and meet Sona for whatever it was she had planned today,
"Nami please stop using the bubble to roll me around like this."
"Sorry Mora but I don't want to risk losing you while we're out again; that and your tendency to faint is a bit hazardous."
"Oh on that note I think I figured out why that keeps happening; VI dented a part of my skull in such a way it isn't able to self-repair just right: so next time we find a decent hammer I need you to bash my temple in okay?"
Nami struggled for words as she continued to roll me down the streets garnering the attention of many a passerby, I imagine this is normal for Nami. After rolling me a few more blocks we come to the outside of a large building; I try to read the signs but at this point the bubble pops and my vision is obscured by the water as I try to rub dry,
"Nami I don't think you should be so rough with Mora; she doesn't seem like the kind of girl who'd enjoy it."
Nami begins laughing and says 'phrasing' once more prompting Sona to rub her left temple a little when something dawns on me;
"Nami how can you hear Sona? I mean I have partial psychic abilities but how do you hear Sona?"
"The fault of creative oversight, but lets just say using magic water to hear vibrations or whatever."
"Umm… I'm not quite sure how to react to this… Anyway girls I had the perfect idea of what we could do today."
I finally managed to wipe the water out of my eyes and twisted my body to wring out my clothes, I look over to Sona who was wearing a loose t-shirt and some jeans with her hair tied back in a single pony-tail as appose to two, it was odd seeing her dressed so casual but at the same time her outfit had its own charm…
"Mora? Mora can you hear me?"
Oh crap I did it again;
"Sorry Sona I was just… uhh… believable excuse?"
"…Oh I see; that's alright then it happens all the time, anyway I was saying in lieu of a firsthand experience I thought I'd show you what the League is like from a spectator's point of view."
Sona takes my hand… wow she has soft hands; and she coaxes me further into the large stadium, leading me past large crowds and needlessly expensive snacks until we were standing in front of a large decorative set of doors that had the words 'CHAMPIONS PREP. ROOMS' delicately engraved into the metal, before I can even ask why she brought me her she pulls me inside into a surprisingly well furnished lounge area with many paintings and finely crafted weapons hanging on the walls; though the decorations were hardly the most eye-catching sight… wait if they were that interesting why did I bring them up first? Uhh anyway what I found significantly more interesting where some of the people in the room; over towards the door marked 'away team' a man with light brown hair wearing massive armor was suspending his entire body on one arm whilst pushing up, the fact he was able to do this so effortlessly was a wordless testimony to his strength and I could only imagine his other potential feats after noticing the huge sword lying on the ground beside him as he continued doing his impractical but impressive push-ups, across from I was a short creature with a giant mass of hair larger than the rest of his body; I think he's a Yordle, up until now I had never actually seen one outside of textbooks and my nightmares but this one had on a lab coat and large red goggles, he (I'm assuming it was a male as I read that females are blue and not covered in hair apparently) was intently observing the armoured man and marking down figures in a notepad so fast I could hardly perceive them, before long though Sona once again started pulling me again and waiving to the armored man as we passed; he waved back with the hand he had been suspending himself with… somehow, she pulled me to a room marked 'home team' so I assumed that meant the champions of Piltover would be here, as soon as we enter the room my assumption is verified as I can see Vi and Caitlyn checking their weaponry; I waved to them getting a polite nod from Caitlyn and a hearty wave from Vi that ends up denting a locker she was standing beside causing Caitlyn to pinch the bridge of her nose, Sona brings me over to the next row of lockers where HOLY CUPCAKES!... Uh I mean uh… A tall and slender woman with flowing platinum blond hair and sharp features, though you'd hardly notice due to her incredibly distracting choice of outfit if you could even call it that: it was small corset like top and a pair of shorts with a long length of cloth on the front and back and finished with a pair of gloves and some sort of wrapping on her lower legs… I'm not sure whether I find this outfit offensive or empowering.
"Why hello Sona, who's your friend there?" The woman asks with soothing and slightly breathy voice and Sona motions for me to introduce myself;
"My name is Mora, it's a pleasure to meet you miss err…" Crap I used the wrong formality,
"My name is Janna; Janna Windforce, it's a pleasure to meet you too Mora,"
Janna then floats closer and extends her hand which I shake while I internally wonder why I meet so many pretty floating woman, after what I hope was an appropriate amount of time to shake someone's hand I let go and then Sona and Janna start conversing with each other; I can't understand her sign language so I wander over to where I saw Caitlyn and Vi a few moments ago but oddly enough they had already left but what I did notice was a large blue staff with orange orbs on it lying on the floor beside the newly dented locker, out of sheer curiosity I pick it up but for once I don't get any information about it, I've never really been sure what triggers my ability to learn/copy powers but I really wanted to know what the heck this thing was as it didn't look like any other device I had seen since I got here, I try concentrating on the weapon really hard on the weapon…. Ow… I think I literally hurt myself by thinking too hard; I thought that only happened to Noxians.
"Hey Ja- oh there you are, c'mon we have a match too win!"
Before I could even fully process her words I feel the all too familiar vice like grip of Vi's gauntlet wrap around me waist and yanks me through a huge door and I'm nearly blinded by the light of high noon and the combine flash of hundreds of cameras; I blink furiously in vain hopes of regaining my sight when I hear the sound of metal against metal as I regain my sight just in time to see the door Vi drug me through close and lock meaning I'm stuck in the arena, my mind races as I try to comprehend m situation and figure out how Vi managed to mistake me for… oh no, I force myself to look down at myself and sure enough I'm not looking at myself I'm looking at Janna; I must have morphed while trying to figure out her staff, even my clothes shifted: I never managed that before and now I'm standing in a giant arena to compete in some kinda game I know nothing about with people I barely know in the body of a woman I just met… I don't even know where to put this on 'My list of days where I should have stayed in bed'.
Back in the halls leading toward the champions lounge a mildly perplexed Marai floats down the hall and enters the room to see the Maven of Strings sitting on one of the couches;
"Hey Sona whats the deal running off with Mora like that? The match is about to start and I don't think Mora would want to miss this!"
"Oh there you are Nami, I'm sorry I neglected to mention I was taking Mora to meet Janna; I didn't realise we had gotten so caught up in our conversation and lost track of time."
"Uhh ok then but wheres Mora? I wanted to get to our seats early so I could brief her on the different champs out there today." Nami was noticeably excited as her wave spiraled and splashed beneath her; the idea of introducing her new friend to what was easily the most exciting sport in Runeterra excited her more than the time she figured out how to fly when it rains,
"I thought she left to join you in the stands; she wasn't in the changing room with Janna and I,"
Before the two could look any further into the whereabouts of their friend a distressed Janna floats into the room; "Sona Have you seen my staff? My locker was broken open and now I can't find it! I need it for the match… well I mean I don't need it but it ties my ensemble together nicely."
The three woman float together in silence for a moment as they each have a different train of thought; Nami was trying to think of something clever to say about Janna's outfit, Janna was wondering where her staff was despite the fact it had nothing to do with her actual powers; in fact she had occasionally traded it out for an umbrella, meanwhile Sona was putting together the pieces and came to a realisation which was quickly proven by the announcer's voice echoing from the stadium:
"Ladies and Gentle please welcome to the rift: Heimerdinger! Jayce! Caitlyn! Vi! And Janna!"
"Mora found your staff and must have morphed and now she's out in the arena."
I am so lost, before I really have any chance to tell someone I wasn't Janna I was once again dragged to a strange platform where a magic circle surrounded us and trapped us inside only making me even more freaked out but once again my attempts to try and explain myself are stifled by Vi shoving a strange golden coin into my hands and telling me to hold onto it, I try to stick it somewhere into the gooey mass that is my body but for some reason I feel weirdly solid and I'm forced to put it in my pocket… how the hell does this outfit have pockets? I try once more to speak but my voice is drowned-out by the crowd as Vi pulls me into a dense forest and lets go of me near a bush and runs toward a river in the distance while telling me 'to be ready to leash' whatever that means… as I wait for Vi to return I finally get the hang of floating like Janna as I'm able to better comprehend her powers which have nothing to do with the staff which might explain why I didn't get any information about it; instead Janna's abilities originate within her which was going to complicate things even further as I still have a hard time controlling magic; when using Nami's powers they are mostly the work of her weapon the Tidecaller but now I'm going to have to do this on my own power… do I even have any of my own?
Before I can dwell on the thought Caitlyn appears from around the bend of the odd rock formations and stands beside me, I try to think of something to say but I just feel as though my mind came screeching to a halt…
"Mora please don't take this the wrong way but what do you think your doing impersonating a League Champion in a ceremonial match intended to celebrate the bond between Piltover and Demacia?"
This woman's deductive powers are impressive to say the least;
"Look I know this probably looks bad but the synopsis of the situation is that I tried to use Janna's staff which ended up being nothing more then a prop but I triggered my morphing ability somehow and became Janna then before I could react VI grabbed me and pulled me into the arena and then she made me buy a gold coin thingy and then left me here an-"
Caitlyn places her finger over my mouth to silence me… her hand smells like donuts and rifle oil,
"Alright so this is partially Vi's fault, can't say I'm surprised but regardless this situation doesn't have an easy amendment; to leave and retrieve Janna would require us to surrender, and to admit you aren't Janna but actually a Zaunite Shape-shifter would potential cause civil unrest… I hate to say this Mora but it seems you will need to remain here with us for the remainder of the match, are you aware of the rules of a league match?"
"To put it simply: I have absolutely no idea, Sona and Nami brought me here to learn how matches usually work but Sona wanted me to meet Janna and I already panic-explained the rest."
Caitlyn rubs her temples and mutters something vaguely profane but I get distracted by Vi returning from wherever she had just been;
"Alright ladies' tea party is over get ready to take blue!"
Before I can ask her what she means by 'take blue' the ground begins to shake and a massive stone creature vaults from behind the rock formation before us and crashes to the ground in front of us; I expect the creature to attack us but it simply stands there, as though silently observing us; I get a chance to look at it as I stare deep into the glowing core of its stone body as a gentle blue light pulses throughout its- "HERE COMES THE PUNCHLINE!"
Vi begins… punching the creature while it reels back and starts attempting to fight back, I turn to Caitlyn for answers but before I can ask anything she opens fire on the creature leaving me more than perplexed;
"Hey Janna you wanna help or are you just going to stand there!?… or float I guess."
Vi's shout pulls me from my stupor long enough for me to see the golem creature preparing to attack her; I dig into my mind and find a shield spell and cast it onto Vi just as the creature's arm crashes down but thankfully the blow is absorbed by the translucent sphere instead, once the creature reels back from its attack being blocked Vi punches it once more and shatters it to pieces, as it falls the blue glow leaves its body and forms a translucent blue circle around Vi's feet,
"Alright blue buff is mine! Good luck with your lane Cupcake!"
With that Vi runs deeper into the woods and Caitlyn beckons me to follow her and I try to comply but as I instinctively try to walk I forgot I was suspended about a foot off the ground; Caitlyn had to come back and drag me like VI did before until I get a chance to practice as several very short robed figures waddle by and start fighting similar looking creatures cloaked in a different colour,
"Alright Mora, these are minions; they are essential to winning the match as the provide gold, distract turrets, and a living shield; take care to make sure there are some between you and the enemy."
I take her advice as best I can and watch as she attacks the minions with her rifle, when they fall I spontaneously get a coin which I can only assume is the result of the strange larger coin Vi made me buy, I try to observe the creatures known as minions as the walked single file line form the large gem back where we had started to all the way down here in this lane where they'd meet headlong with another groups of slightly different ones and fight, I tried getting closer to see whether the minions were biological or machine;
"Mora what did I say abo-"
Caitlyn suddenly goes silent and I turn back to see why when a small ball of light floats close by and stops, I try to move away from it but I feel as though I'm sinking into the ground and can barely move, I manage to pull myself a few more inches and regain proper traction when I hear something burst behind me, commons sense tells me it was probably the same ball of light from a moment ago and I run… float back to Caitlyn as fast as I could as she had taken position near the river where the lane bends and she was firing at something,
"Mora get down!"
Caitlyn barks and I comply hitting the dirt as fast as I could as a silver bolt whizzes overhead and imbeds itself within the rocks, the all too familiar click of a crossbow being loaded sounds out behind me, I whip around s fast as I can fearing the worst but as I spin I conjure a tailwind that forms into small tornado that lurches forward and into a bush causing a dark shape to fly skyward; all I could see were the curves of a crossbow and beady red eyes glaring down at me… no it couldn't be… how could he have… he wouldn't have followed me would he!?
I feel the area of my chest that would contain a heart were I human start to pulse faster and faster as it becomes hard to breath; I try to run further down river where Caitlyn was but I don't want to lose sight of him lest he make himself invisible and chase me down, I turn back to face the river for a split second and sure enough when I turn back he's vanished; I call forth another of Janna's and a huge gale swirls around me and I see the dust and soot on a nearby wall get blown aside as though something just hit it so I keep floating as fast as I can with the wind itself carrying me faster, I see an ingress along the rock wall that seems to lead in toward the forested area where Vi had been earlier; I hope to hide among the foliage and figure out where Caitlyn wen-… I've been shot, I can feel the bolt in my leg but I grit my teeth and keep going, I float right now so legs are negligible, I conjure up another tornado to throw behind me but I let this one wait a moment as it seems to become more powerful if I let it charge; I lease it to the general direction from which the shot came and keep running when I hear a small grunt and the grass beside me bends… he hit me again, this time it was in the shoulder almost exactly where he had shot me way back in Zaun, I try one last time to attack but I simply can muster enough power and I'm shot right in my chest, this time the blow is powerful enough it knocks me into a nearby wall and takes the wind out of me; I'd appreciate the irony if not for the fact I was in terrible pain, I crane my neck up fearing the gruesome snout of the wretched rat to be in my face but instead of that I see… well frankly I'm not quite sure what I see: It appears to be a woman wearing a skin tight black jumpsuit with odd armored gauntlets and boots and sharp glasses with red lenses and a small wrist mounted crossbow paired with a MASSIVE one on her back…
"Don't worry, it won't hurt much longer."
The woman shrugs the crossbow off her back and holds it level with my neck, I want to move but I have nowhere to go, I have no mana to fight…
I take one last breath and close my eyes.
