Close to the Sun
A bald woman sits cross-legged outside of Zuretta's walls, humming a unique hymn in ancient Shuriman. Her golden staff hovers behind her as she prays, reciting mantras from an unfurling scroll with the insignia of her God.
"You should be honored - usually, I don't find the people who're looking for me."
Ezreal lands with a thud, brushing the dust off his shirt. The mysterious woman landed on the ground gracefully, sand shifting around her feet.
"Peregrine."
He reaches out to shake her outstretched hand - palms coarse and rough. "Ezreal."
"First and foremost, I appreciate your help in our battle. Your magic and the Thing that Came Back are probably the reason Zuretta is still standing."
Despite Peregrine's casual insult towards Kai'Sa, the Piltovan manages to force a chuckle at her praises.
"It's no biggie, really. All in a day's work."
"I think not. You make remarkable use of the gauntlet."
Ah. Ezreal shifted to hide the gauntlet under his coat, but her sharp eyes caught the glint of gold. He played it off with a chuckle, revealing the gilded weapon - along with the sapphire jewel that provided it with power. With the reputation Piltovans had in Shurima, Ezreal was already hesitant to show his face without robes - much less the borrowed artifact he had been using as a weapon and vehicle.
"Yup, I've been using it for a long time now. Might as well be a part of my body, amirite?"
His joke either goes over her head, or Peregrine wasn't the joking kind: her eyes remain cold despite the polite smile on her parched lips.
"Would you like to know your future?"
"Know my future?" He scoffs in joking contempt, yet another attempt to lighten the mood. "What are you going to do, pull up the crystal orb? Maybe hand me a magic mushroom or two?"
"Palm reading."
"Really?"
Despite his skepticism, Ezreal decides to give it a shot. What was the harm in it anyway? He holds both of his gloves under his arms as the sandweaver lifts his hands up, closing her eyes and muttering.
The explorer held his breath to stifle his giggles from her light touch moving across his palms, though based on the furrows on her forehead he was not doing the best of jobs. Her hands linger a moment longer on his left than the right, pressing down on the intricate runes covering the gauntlet of Ne'Zuk.
"I see."
Vague and cryptic, the sandweaver released him from her grip: Ezreal stumbling a few steps back.
"So? What do you have for me? Am I in the clear?"
"Your right hand speaks of success. You will find great success in the deserts of Shurima. It will not be an easy one to find, but it is one you will treasure for the rest of your life."
"D-damn, really?" The boy stammers, excited. "So can you provide any specifics? Like what this great success looks like, where to find it, when can I expect it?"
Ezreal knew it was all psychological tricks and hogwash, but that did not stop him from imagining the rewards that Peregrine had spoken of. Maybe this year was the year he could finally do something to make his career as an archeologist / explorer / adventurer, or the year he would finally catch up with his parents on their latest adventure.
"Each hand speaks of a different aspect of your destiny." Peregrine said. "Think of it like two strands that make up your tapestry, two colors intertwined with one another."
"I-is this a Hawk Father thing or?"
"I followed a different God, before I found the Father. You may know it as the Weaver."
The name rings a bell in his head: the Weaver was apparently a God of Fate and Destiny, worshiped by nomadic tribes who lived across the Sai. Despite its loft position, Ezreal found that it was used as an excuse for literally everything that happened, a divine being that was more like a scapegoat in practice.
"Your left is a bit more complicated than the right."
"A good complicated or a bad complicated?"
Peregrine's grim expression did the answering for her. "Your fate is mercurial, pulled on all sides by forces greater than I can comprehend. That gauntlet of yours has placed a target on your back, and so has your growing association with the Thing that Came Back. Her enemies are yours, and yours will become hers. I understand that you value her as a companion, but I warn you that your friendship is not without its dangers."
"I can handle dangers." Ezreal said a bit more defensively than he intended.
"I do not doubt that, but your thread will be tested by forces greater than you or I. Whether you snap or survive will be determined only by your willpower."
Ok, now Ezreal was really sure that Peregrine wanted his gauntlet - the woman had been eyeing it through their entire fortune reading. She nods gravelly as the Piltovan recomposes himself, noticing how loud the breaths in his chest were compared to the silence of the Sai.
"Sorry, but I have to go take care of something, really urgent, and I am so sorry but-"
"I understand. Go."
He does not need to be told twice - Arcane Shifting into the distance. Ezreal watches as Peregrine casually crosses her legs and returns to her meditation, gold and sand swirling around the mystical woman. He wipes his brow of sweat, recovering his face in rags and robes. The magical gauntlet is clenched tightly on his palm.
"What was that about?"
On second thought, Ezreal decided he didn't want to know.
When the Night Changes
There was something she wanted to see before they left.
Following her instincts, the huntress stumbles into a clearing - crystal clear waters allowing the brilliantly colored fish within to reflect the sunlight perfectly. Her second skin complains of the strong flowery scent as she approaches, yearning for the burning sizzle of plasma-scorched flesh. The Holy Lady's gardens were most certainly enjoyable, especially without the threat of a ravenous Voidborn hunter.
Trespassing was not a crime she wanted to commit, but the girl figured that this was the least Zuretta could allow her to do. A simple minute of relaxation after a grueling week of mindless battle.
With her and Ezreal returning to the desert soon, such an opportunity would not come as easily or as often.
She still didn't know what that creature was. It had wings, it could fly . Kai'Sa had long assumed she was the only Voidborn to be able to do so, and it did not help that the 'Voidreaver' (a name that Ezreal had come up with) was a fighter just as deadly as she was.
"You are no fighter."The Protean corrects, an Icathian buzz that was to Kai'Sa as flies were to a corpse. " You are nothing without us."
Ever since the prophet had awoken it, her second skin was far too awake for her liking. She had been able to force the parasite into cooperation so far, but there was no telling if or when it would act out again.
"I know we are - enemies." Kai'Sa retorts. "But we will have to work together to survive. You know this."
"The Void consumes all. We will consume all."
"Without me, you would also be dead."
"The Void consumes all. We will consume all."
"Are you even listening to me? Do you understand Shuriman?"
"The Void consumes all. We will consume all."
It was like talking to a wall. A frustratingly cognizant wall stuck to her body until she inevitably died.
Kai'Sa decides to not let her forced traveling companion ruin her day, counting the fish swimming in the clear waters of the pool instead of engaging with the Protean. What had he called it again? Jak'Sho? Despite her constant (forced) exposure to the language, the word was not one Kai'Sa recognized.
SPLASH!
A school of colorful fish had begun to accumulate beneath her shadow, smart enough to assume that any human would have food to provide. The huntress considered breaking a piece of her second skin and feeding it to them just to spite it, but that would only do more harm than good.
The suit blasts a warning in her ear, Kai'Sa cursing and readying her weapons for a fight.
"Hadya! Where are you?"
The huntress freezes as Kuvera's cane taps on the ground, the elderly innkeeper strolling along a beaten path. The suit continued to push her to violence as the woman turned towards her: milky white eyes trained on her hunched clawed figure. It took a moment for the huntress to calm down, retracting her weapons and her mask - despite her second skin's rumbling.
"Oh. Hadya? Is that you?"
The girl blurted out a reply without thinking. "No."
"Hmm. That voice seems awfully familiar - Kaisa was it?"
"... Yes."
She was more surprised that the innkeeper remembered her name.
"Ah! The foreigner's friend! Fancy seeing you out here, is the Palace not to your liking? Room too small?"
"It is acceptable."
The old woman offered her a flask on her hip, but Kai'Sa was in no mood to drink. As Kuvera slipped to sit with her on the lakeside, her second suit continued to attempt to ignite their plasma. It took a great deal of will to keep her cannons dark and cold.
If the innkeeper had allowed Malzahar to stay in the Palace, was she aligned with the Void?
Suddenly, Kai'Sa was not so certain that it was safe to be so close. She squirmed in place, subtly slipping ever further from the old woman. She did not want to resort to violence, especially not against someone who had helped her before.
"I know it is none of my business - but you're a warrior, aren't you?"
The Protean wanted to blast the other lady off the face of the planet, but Kai'Sa was adamant on non-violence. She remains dead silent.
"Oh don't be so surprised, it's not that hard to tell. I may not have my eyes anymore, but I can recognize one of us from a mile away. People like us, we have a different kind of aura."
"One of us?"
"I used to be a city guard, though you can't really tell anymore." Kuvera continues, unaware or uncaring of how tense the girl was. "I trained everyday, from sunset to sundown, with every weapon that I could find. I ventured out into the Sai to fell great beasts, and people called me the strongest woman in all of Zuretta - hell, they were even thinking of making me a captain. Can you believe that - poor orphan Kuvera becoming captain of the Holy Lady's guard?"
Taking a moment to laugh at her own joke, the crone downs the rest of the flask in one go.
"Ah, but it wasn't meant to be." Her tone shifts, longing and reflective. "One fateful day, one of those monsters attacked the city. I was late to my station because of drinking at the tavern, and I thought I could handle those Xer'Sai on my own."
A bloodstained ring glitters on one of her calloused fingers.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"What? Can't an old lady just get some things off her chest?"
"..."
"I'm joking dear." Her rough hand pats her shoulder, Kai'Sa releasing a breath she had not known she had been holding. "I heard about what you and that Piltovan did. Without your help, things would have gone - so much worse. On behalf of Zuretta, thank you so much for helping us."
Caught off guard, Kai'Sa is unprepared for when the innkeeper pinches her cheek playfully. The Protean berates her for allowing Kuvera, an old woman, to have taken her by surprise. She felt a pang of nostalgia, remembering when her own mother did the same to her when she was but a child.
"Well, enough talk. The Holy Lady is probably waiting for me."
The huntress helped the old woman up, earning a hefty pat to the back. "Be seeing you Kaisa."
"Goodbye."
"She hates you." A familiar voice interjects, at least this time not repeating the same mindless phrase it had been for hours on end. "We are a monster."
Kai'Sa ignores the Protean's attempt to provoke her, which only confuses the parasite. Her hand dips into the pond's surface, petting one particularly brave fish that had wandered up close. As it darts away, another fish quickly takes its place and searching for food that was not there, the huntress speaks.
"No. Not if I can help it."
"You seek to defy your nature? Impossible."
"You were not always my second skin, and yet that is what you became. Is that not proof enough?"
The Protean remains quiet.
Third Wheel
In some Shuriman myths, the Sun and Moon were lovers - forever separated by the veil of Twilight. The storytellers could not have known how literal this tale would be interpreted by the strings of Fate.
"NOOOOO!"
The howl echoes across the pocket dimension, nearly shattering the thin veil between it and the rest of reality. What appeared to be a small child clutched at her forehead, tumbling across the cosmos with another whining shriek. Her brilliant hair, a mix of purples and orange akin to a nebula, tumbles around her in a frayed cloud.
"HOW IS THIS FAIR?!"
"Life is far from fair." A second voice, deep and older than the stars, grumbled from all around. The child remained unperturbed, crossing her arms and pouting in the empty space. "Besides, there is no worth in fawning over a mortal who, I might add, does not even know you exist ."
"You wouldn't get it!"
She is met with a cold shoulder, but silence had never stopped Zoe from complaining before.
"I mean, I get the little thing he has with Luxanna Crownguard - I hate her soooo much, but I'll admit she's somewhat acceptable. They're both blonde, funny and she's probably good enough for both our standards yeah." The Aspect of Twilight rambled on, her hostage / listener rolling his eyes. "BUT HOW DARE HE GO ANYWHERE NEAR THAT - THAT STINKY ICATHIAN BUG! WHAT A BUNCH OF BULLSPIT!"
Kicking off the empty space, Zoe casually tears a portal in reality: glaring daggers at the small town of Zuretta. Had she had her way, it would be nothing but a crater. Sans her Boyfriend that is.
"What could he possibly see in her?" The brat seethed. "She's just edges and ugly and bleh, do you see that jawline on her? Ugh. I could cut butter with that chin. I mean, he is so out of her league, I don't even think she can be ranked in the same league as him."
She ignores a deep groan rumbling from somewhere around her.
"Oh but just you wait - I'll have him wrapped around my little finger, and you underneath by boot. Squashed, like the little tiny grub cockroach you are!"
"Sure you will."
The Great and Mighty Aurelion Sol rolled his eyes one more time, voice dripping with sarcasm. The great dragon had little else to do in this space between spaces, but at least he wasn't being forced to toil like an undignified slave. Plus, Zoe made for entertaining drama - as meaningless as it is.
With a flick of her finger, the portal's view changed: zooming in specifically on her Boyfriend and the Insect.
A fire ignites in Zoe's eyes as the Insect hugged him, not even Luxanna was this audacious. She would not have wanted to meet her celebrity crush this way, but two rivals was one rival too many in her book.
"Kai'Sa. You fricked up. Big time."
The Star Forger snorted under his breath.
Like he said, entertaining.
Raising Hell
Just outside of the city, a skeletal hand shoots from the sand.
Malzahar crawled out of the sand, gasping for air. The prophet kneels as his hood falls away: revealing the many gaping holes within his skull. The purple light that was his ascended mind crackled with power- the last of the Void's whispers fading into silence. He rubs his jaw, feeling the pain from where the lackey had assaulted him.
The world goes black - mind gripped in the presence of the one true God. Four luminescent eyes appear from the blackness: each one swirling with the pupils of a different being. Malzahar moved to kneel, but his broken knees gave away before he could.
"You failed."
"I did what was asked of me - it was the Daughter of the Void and her lackeys who intervened. Had they not been there, Zuretta would have sunk just like all the ot-"
"It seems to me." The voices hum. "That you have more desire to save yourself than to bring about my goals."
"I would never. Oblivion is above all things."
They both knew it. Had the prophet been on the frontlines instead of occupied with the Protean, Zuretta would have been sunk that night.
"You lie, and so you shall be punished."
Voices swirl around him, myriad yet all united as one. The beauty at the end, twisted into a screaming maelstrom. His punishment soon ends- and the prophet feels a surge of relief as his consciousness heals.
"Forgive me your Highness." He begs desperately. "It was a moment of temptation."
"Bring the city into the Void and all will be forgiven." The myriad voices wrap around his neck, tightening their hold. Malzahar feels the pressure building on his mind, a single spark pressed on all sides by the darkness. "Fail again and I will not be as merciful."
Light returns to the world, revealing nothing but the barren wastes of the Sai. A new layer of human skin covers his body, and the man took a moment to feel the familiar up and down of his breathing chest.
"That look awhile."
The prophet is reminded that, while he may control the Void, the monsters did not obey his every command. Especially the smarter ones. Kha'Zix wore a toothy grin as it appeared out of thin air, constantly twitching its head. Clearly, its hunt had not gone as expected - evidenced by numerous scars on its carapace.
"Ready to go? Or does your frail human body need a little more time to heal?"
As prophet, Malzahar often ignored the goadings of his flock: disrespectful as they were. But unlike his serenity, others were not as courteous.
Cho'Gath rose from the sand, large enough to be mistaken for a small dune. "Do you ever shut up?"
"Well, it looks like some-bitch is pissy."
"I fought three people and the Second Son." The First Son grunts angrily. "Talk to me when you've done something useful."
"Aww, did I upset the baby? Is being Mommy's favorite not enough for you?"
Their argument was not going to end anytime soon.
With a wave of his hand, the two Voidborn are sent into the space between spaces. Malzahar savors the silence, before floating to his feet. The energies of the inevitable Entropy heals his wounds, mending his mind and body to better act as a vessel for his patron. He looks over to Zuretta.
It would be trivially easy to sink the city - but Malzahar did not.
Malzahar was no longer a slave to mortal desires, but he still wanted to survive. The Void would take the world, but the temptress had offered a way out. A way for him to endure, to ascend to the level of his Gods. The Daughter of the Void, the perfect union between Voidflesh and the feeble body of man. The Jak'Sho was still out there, waiting for him to claim it. The prophet chuckles, then cackles into the desert as he opens a portal for himself to walk through. He had a new goal in mind now - a selfish, small seed that had begun to blossom in his dark heart.
Malzahar would ascend - he would become one with the Void.
A/N: And that's all folks! For real this time.
We'll be moving onto the Main Bulk of the fanfiction soon after, and if you liked all the cameos in Zuretta - then there's going to be ALOT to like in the second arc. Hope you enjoy reading this, because I am excited to kick things off next Wednesday with a bang! Literally.
Remember to rate and review, and as always thanks for enjoying!