Akali took a sip of the freshly made tea, the warm liquid pleasantly warming her up for the inside.
"So, what was that about?"
"What was what about?"
The assassin gave Irelia a blank stare.
"You looked like one of those sun worshippers whose goddess had been insulted before you saw me."
She quirked an eyebrow as Irelia's eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face.
'Hadn't she been angry?'
"We got general Duqual!"
Akali's eyebrows practically vanished behind her hairline as she jumped up, masterfully balancing her cup so that no tea was spilled.
"Really?! That's amazing!"
If not for the teacup in her hand, she would have hugged the living soul out of her longtime friend.
"So, what are you going to do with him?" Akali asked as she hastily sat back down again, basically vibrating with excitement.
At the same time, she swiftly placed the cup onto the floor, instead taking a Kunai from a pouch at her leg which she nervously fiddled with like one would fiddle with a pen.
The tiny smirk that Irelia gave her as she spotted the old habit wasn't lost to the assassin.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm just going to have a little talk with him. Yeah, just a little talk…"
A shiver went down the smaller woman's back. She almost felt sorry for the general. Almost.
A short silence fell over the two like a cozy, familiar blanket as Irelia's mind seemed to be in a completely different world, and it was Akali's turn to smirk slightly.
'We haven't changed at all, have we?'
Between her playing with a literal tool for murder and Irelia's daydreaming, it almost felt like they were young again.
She let her gaze drop onto her hand, observing her own fingers playing with the weapon. The sharp tool danced between her fingers with the grace and smoothness of a highly skilled dancer performing on a stage, gliding, and bending around them like a snake. Before she could get lost in the beautiful dance though, the feeling of two eyes on her made her grab the Kunai, shattering the all too familiar illusion she had seen a thousand times already.
"Your skills with the little blades are as impressive as ever. Makes me wonder what else those nimble fingers of yours can do."
"I-Irelia!"
A big blush quickly spread on Akali's face as she violently tried to suppress the flood of very inappropriate images popping up in her head.
Images of a toned, beautiful, brown-haired, red-eyed, and entirely naked man with her fingers gently wrapped around his throbbing-
She shook her head aggressively, her face so hot that she could almost feel it melt like snow under the sun.
"A-a-anyways, you still didn't tell me what made you so angry." Akali asked, trying her best to sway the conversation away from anything that had to do with him.
She pointedly ignored Irelia's curious expression at what must have seemed like an overreaction, though that was quickly replaced by a frown once she registered her question.
"When I said 'We' got that piece of shit Duqual, I actually meant someone else gave him to us, which is really not a problem, because at the end of the day, I got what I wanted so it doesn't matter how I got it."
Irelia ran a hand through her hair, the frustration evident.
"The problem is the guy himself. He doesn't want a fucking reward. In fact, I have yet to even see him."
Akali winced. Not allowing Irelia to show her gratitude was like not allowing a magician to use any magic. It was in their very essence to do so, and to deny them such would only lead to chaos. And now this guy, whoever he was, didn't want a reward for doing Irelia the biggest favor ever?
'Oh boy.'
"And to top it all off, Karma doesn't even want to tell me where in this big ass city he is so I can at least talk to him! Can you believe that?!"
Irelia let out a tired sigh.
"I just want to see him. To know who I can thank. Who I can at least try to repay."
Akali quickly scooted forward and put a hand onto her friend's shoulder, a reassuring smile on her face.
"I'm sure Karma will tell you sooner or later. You know she doesn't do things without a reason. But if it makes you feel any better, I can help you find him while I'm here. I don't wear the title of an assassin for nothing, you know."
Irelia's face brightened immediately, the expression suiting her beautiful face much better than the frown she previously wore.
"You once again fail to disappoint me when it comes to proving why you are my best friend!"
Akali preened under the compliment.
"But what about you? I really don't want to stop you from whatever you want to do."
The assassin shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. It's not like I have to go as soon as possible, so staying for a few more days is not a problem at all."
"I don't deserve you, Akali!"
A light chuckle escaped her mouth.
"Enough compliments. Do you know anything about the man. Anything at all?"
She couldn't quite contain her curiosity about who this person was. Someone who captured Duqual, brought him to Ionia only to deny any reward?
'He is either the dumbest or the most selfless guy out there.'
"I actually do. Karma told me he had brown hair, though I'm not sure how trustworthy that source is."
Akali snorted in an unladylike manner, motioning for her to continue.
"Besides that, I only know his name."
She leaned forward. A name was always very useful.
"His name is -"
"Narlou!"
He jolted upwards into a sitting position, his eyes quickly adjusting to the bright lights that shone through the window.
'How long was I asleep?'
"Finally!"
He turned to the side, spotting Yasuo smirking down at him from beside his bed.
"It's already way past breakfast time, old man. When did you go to bed last night to sleep that long? Or are you perhaps really getting old?"
A snort from behind the younger brother alerted Narlou to the presence of Yone, leaning against the doorframe leisurely.
"By the way, your new haircut looks really good!"
"Thanks, and shut up, both of you."
He rubbed his eyes with a small yawn, leaving his vision swimming with stars for a few seconds as he ignored Yasuo's snickering.
"So? What do you want?"
"What do you think we want? Training, of course! Being a champion is cool and all, but power doesn't come from just lazing around, right Yone?"
Yone nodded.
"What he said."
Narlou quirked an eyebrow at the brothers as he swung his legs over the bedside, finally standing up and walking over to the small mirror in the corner of their room.
"You still didn't answer my question." He stated, bending forward to put his face on the mirror's level. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Yasuo rolling his eyes, causing his lips to quirk up slightly.
"Isn't it obvious? We want you to help us!"
He let the words hang in the air for a moment, taking a hairband out of his pocket to bind his locks behind his head into a ponytail just like the barber had done before.
"Normally I'd love to help you out, but there's something I wanna do, so you'll have to train without me today."
"What?! Why?"
"Not telling you."
He stuck out his tongue in a childlike manner, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
"Hmpf! Whatever. Come on Yone, we'll just get stronger without this old fart! Not our problem if he falls behind!"
Narlou chuckled, listening to the sound of their footsteps becoming quiet until there was only silence left. He could totally understand their excitement. Hell, he himself would love nothing more than to train at the moment as well, and with their newly acquired skills as champions they must've been craving to test their new limits and abilities.
But there was something that stopped him from joining them.
'My own body.'
So today, he made it his personal mission to look around the Capital and see if someone in this plant-loving city was proficient in gravity magic.
'Surely there has to be at least one.'
"Aye, sorry lad! I've yet to meet anyone like that. Good luck though on your search though!"
Narlou gave the man behind the counter a wide smile.
"Don't worry about it, and thanks anyways."
'On to the next one!'
"No, I don't recall someone like that, sorry to disappoint you, love."
Narlou gave the woman in front of him a small smile.
"It's alright. Thanks anyways."
"No problem, darling~. Are you sure you don't wanna stay for a drink or two? Hmm~?"
"Ah, s-sorry! I have to go!"
He dashed out of the tavern as fast as his legs could carry him.
'Surely the next one will know someone like that.'
"HA! You're asking for a lot here, my friend! I'm sure that there are a few people like that somewhere in Ionia, but the capital is and has never been a place for powerful Ionian mages to gather. That's the beauty of our nation though, don't you think? Where other nations have endless empty forests and mountains, we have thousands of people scattered everywhere! If you ask me, I think it shows how connected we are to mother nat-"
Narlou tuned the man out with a strained smile, slowly backing away as he continued rambling to a total of zero people.
'One more. Let's ask one more person.'
"Nope. Don't think I've heard of anyone like that currently staying in the Capital. And even if there were such a person, don't you think they'd rather stay undetected? That kind of power is not common nowadays."
Narlou's brow twitched.
"Alright. Thank you anyways."
'One more. Just one fucking more. Surely someone will know something!'
It went on like that for another few hours before Narlou eventually gave up. He had turned the whole damn place upside down, but no matter who he asked and where he looked, no one had the slightest clue about a gravity mage whatsoever.
"This is ridiculous! I know it's rare, but is there really no one? Not a single person?!"
He threw a small pebble into the pond in front of him, causing a few tiny waves to distort the surface reflection. The freshly cut grass he sat on created a soft cushion for him, and he turned his head to watch the unstoppable flow of time doing its work in the endlessly beautiful sky. Despite it still shining bright, the sun had already gone past its peak as it steadily approached the mountains in the distance, threatening to vanish behind them.
"What a wasted day."
"There is no such thing as a wasted day."
Narlou glanced at the person who had sat down next to him, spotting a strangely beautiful, and somehow vaguely familiar woman. Her long, dark hair rolled down her back in a silky wave, her short dress gifted him a generous view of what was under her neckline and two short swords attached themselves to her back in an x-pattern.
"And why do you think so?"
He watched the knifes on a slim rope around her thigh press themselves onto her skin as she adjusted her position, drawing his attention towards her toned legs.
'Damn, she's really attractive.' He admitted to himself with a small blush, though he quickly forced any urges down before they could even begin to make things weird for him.
"We learn something new every day, no matter how insignificant it seems. And knowledge is never a waste."
He wanted to argue with her, saying how stupid that was and how the tiny smidge of knowledge that he gathered today was worth as much as a dirty, half eaten apple on the side of a road, but all the anger and frustration just went out the window as Narlou glanced back at the now once again still pond.
He sighed, leaning back to look at the sky again.
"I suppose you're right."
The weird markings under her eyes shifted slightly as her neutral expression changed into a tiny, barely noticeable smile.
"May I ask for your name?"
He shrugged.
"Narlou. And you are?"
She gave him a sheepish smile.
"I apologize, but it is not my place to tell you my true name. You may address me as Two for now."
Narlou finally gave her his full attention as he scanned her from head to toe with narrowed eyes, not even bothering to hide his skepticism.
"Two, huh…"
He could tell she was strong just from her presence alone. The way she held herself, how she spoke every word with infinite care and how her muscles tensed every time he made the slightest move. She was definitely not weak.
'Not stronger than me though.' Narlou thought with no small amount of smugness.
Still, he allowed himself to relax slightly. She didn't seem like she came with bad intentions, and even if she did, someone with her level was no danger to him.
"Well then, Two. How can I help you?"
She slowly raised her head again, pinning him with an intense stare that made him flinch back slightly with how sudden it appeared. There was no more smiling and politeness on her face, only absolute seriousness. As if a switch had been flipped, the winds slowed down, the birds chirping became a background noise and the leaves became quiet.
"Who are you?"
Her face was devoid of any emotion. He stiffened.
"W-what do you mean?"
'Did she find out that I'm a Noxian?! Shit! Where did I fuck up?!'
She once again stared at him for a moment, her eyes searching. And suddenly, she moved.
Narlou caught the blades long before they could pierce his eyes, and before the woman could even blink, he was on top of her, the knifes he had just caught less than an inch away from cutting into her lung.
"Explain yourself."
His voice was icy at best as he stared down at her with burning eyes, his jaw clenched tight with barely restrained killing intent. If she truly knew his identity, she was a threat to not only him, but also to his brothers and Riven's chance of freedom. She needed to be silenced. One way or another.
For reasons lost to him, she stayed silent, her wide eyes staring into his like a cornered rabbit.
His vision became blurrier the longer he watched her, deforming, and twisting her face until she was no longer another human, but something far worse. Something dangerous.
'I should kill her before she tells anyone else.'
It would be so, so easy to just slit her throat and be done with it.
It made perfect sense. He could try to convince her to keep it a secret, but what guarantee would he have that she truly stayed silent? The same went for threatening her, and kidnapping her would raise suspicion, especially when she had people who were expecting her to return. Murdering her would be the only good solution. He could just burn her weapons and everything he touched, and there would be nothing hinting at him to be the killer.
The realization hit him like a Noxian warship. If she attacked him like that out of the blue, what stopped her, or them, from attacking the people associated with him? Yone and Yasuo could already be dead for all he knew.
His brothers could be dead.
A sudden inferno of hatred and pure loathing forced his arms to press the knives into her skin. Her eyes widened and her mouth moved, but he couldn't hear her over the intoxicating rush of bloodlust screaming lullabies into his ears.
A drop of blood escaped the cut, and his eyes followed it slowly flowing down her neck.
He was smiling. This was for the greater good, so why shouldn't he be?
'More… Bleed more for what you've done!'
He saw her lips moving once again, frantically shouting something, but he paid it no mind. She was a monster in disguise, a demon waiting to unleash its rage onto his brothers, something savage and wild.
More life-liquid escaped the wound, following the already created line of red down her neck. Narlou watched with rapt attention as it tantalizingly crept along the path of blood, eventually joining the previous one to create a tiny puddle.
But this was far from enough. This creature needed to suffer much more for its sins.
'Much, much more!'
He didn't even notice the flaming and pulsating headache as he tensed his muscles, so preoccupied with his victim writhing beneath him. The now sky-splitting cries of despair from the monster were like a symphony to his ears, a reward for doing the right thing.
How could he not enjoy this with all the evil she had done?!
"I'm Sorry! Please!"
He stilled, the knife less than a hair's breadth away from actually doing serious damage.
"I-I was just testing you! I swear! P-please don't kill me! Please!"
Her body trembled quietly under him with every shallow breath she took, and her eyes were so full of fear that Narlou almost found himself drowning in them.
There was also blood.
It was not his own.
With a gasp, Narlou stumbled off of her, the small knifes he'd previously almost killed the woman with slipping out of his hands. His wide eyes and shaking hands did nothing to calm his pounding heart.
He had been less than seconds away from murdering someone. Less than seconds away from repeating a horrible mistake.
He wanted to lay down. He wanted to see his brothers. He wanted to run.
But there was something more pressing that needed to be taken care of. With cold and sweaty hands, Narlou turned towards the woman who had almost killed him. He felt another spike of anger trying to worm terrible thoughts into his head, but he quickly suppressed it. What he needed right now was clarification, or else he might go crazy with the corruption still lingering just out of reach.
"Why?"
He spat the word out like it was poison, causing the woman who had finally managed to stand up to flinch in surprise.
Or was it fear?
"Y-yesterday! You were the guy who took out those bandits, right?"
'Huh?'
All the anger and fear of discovery seeped out of him like a river. All of this wasn't because she had found out his true identity? She didn't know that he participated in the war?
"What?"
"You went into that rundown area and fought those bandits there, right? I'm very sure that was you!"
'I almost killed someone just because of some assumptions…'
His heart sank with every word she spoke. Had he really been that scared of being discovered that he almost killed someone because of it? He wanted to blame it on the corruption, but he knew that deep down, he was just afraid. Afraid of what Karma would do if she'd find out that he had killed countless Ionians. Afraid of what would happen to Riven then. And most importantly, afraid of what they would do to his kids.
He clenched his fists.
'I need to calm down. She hasn't discovered me, so there is no need to worry about that right now. Instead…'
He glanced at the woman who was currently tying some cloth around her throat to stop the bleeding, still looking at him with wide eyes.
'… I need to know why she attacked me.'
"Yes, that was me. So what? And how do you even know?"
"I h-have been following those guys for a while now, and it was by pure coincidence that I witnessed your fight against them, I swear!"
He frowned, his mind quickly calming and organizing itself thanks to his high Mind stat.
"Why didn't you help me?"
She stiffened. He noticed her hands trembling again.
"W-what?"
"I could've been a normal civilian. They could've hurt me, maybe even killed me there. You didn't know that. Why didn't you help me?"
Her body stiffened even more, and her face paled dangerously.
"I c-couldn't! I was under orders to only observe them and not do anything that could possibly make them suspect me! P-please understand, we were trying to determine if there were more of those guys by following them around! I was just following orders! I had no evil intentions!"
"And your mission is worth more than the life of an innocent bystander, huh?"
He barely whispered the last sentence, but the message came across just as well. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, no sound escaping it, until she eventually kept it close, her face a mirror of shame.
He let the silence rule for a few more seconds before he finally sighed.
"Whatever. Just tell me why you attacked me."
It took a few seconds before she was talking again, her voice much weaker this time.
"A-after you took on those guys yesterday, I reported what you did to the Boss. He was impressed. You have to understand that those men were nothing to sneeze at and have been a very annoying thorn in our side for some time now."
She coughed lightly, still looking at the ground.
"In other words, you've caught the Boss' interest, and he ordered me to t-test you. If you proved worthy, w-which you did, he wants to meet you in person."
Scratching his head in thought, Narlou took a few seconds to digest her words. There were still a lot of questions on his mind, but he shoved them aside for later as curiosity took ahold of him.
"And when would that be?"
She glanced at him for a quick moment, her eyes still uncertain.
"Now, if possible."
Despite the loud conversations and colorful sounds from the people all around them, the tension between them brought Narlou's mood down a step. He knew he should be angry; he had every right to be after what she did, or rather didn't do, but the increasingly familiar feeling was only a handful of sand on the endless beach of shame and guilt.
He'd almost killed her. Just like that.
It felt as if all the progress he'd made with the corruption by raising his mind stat had just disappeared. Vanished in the matter of seconds because he allowed his emotions to control him once again. All it took was one little trigger, one intense negative emotion for the darkness in him to latch onto.
Frustration seemed insufficient to describe his feelings.
To think that it would be so easy for him to go crazy and almost repeat what he did that day. Could he really not escape it somehow? There had to be something that would solve that problem. A technique? Maybe some kind of special training? Hell, maybe even a ritual?
A particularly sharp turn into a small alleyway brought him out of his thoughts as he glanced at Two leading the way in front of him. It didn't take a master to notice the tiny twitches in her body with every step he took, her head turning ever so slightly as if she was trying to get a glimpse of him every few seconds, nor the way she held her arms close to her sides, as if she was trying to protect herself from something. From him.
She was afraid of him. No, she was terrified.
He shook his head, trying to get rid of any distracting thoughts now that he was about to meet this so-called Boss. It wasn't like he could change that now anyways.
He wasn't quite sure why he agreed to come along and meet this person. Was it really just plain curiosity? Maybe a need to know who dared to send someone to attack him? He was well aware that he could be walking right into some kind of trap, but something told him that it was not the case, that it would be worth it to meet that person.
'Or maybe I'm just a naïve, arrogant idiot who doesn't know when to stop.'
It was the most logical theory out of every other so far. Yet, he kept his body moving.
Glancing back at his guide, he watched as she continued marching along the increasingly small path flanked by looming walls on each side, blocking most of the sound coming from the main road that now was far behind them.
A little movement to his right caught his attention and he watched with interest as a tiny creature with eight legs and a small, round body at the center hurriedly crawled up the side of the wall. Its legs were the size of a single hair strand, yet they kept the creature securely on the dirt-stained wall as it continued the climb to a place he had yet to see.
He had seen many of those back in the mines, but he never knew their names.
'What an interesting little thing.'
They passed it and Narlou focused his eyes back onto the path ahead. Finally, after another minute of aimlessly walking through seemingly forgotten parts of the beautiful city, they came to a halt in front of an old, moldy wooden door.
Two knocked once, waited a single second before knocking 4 times in quick succession.
Narlou curiously watched on as she waited another two seconds before knocking one more time. After the sound of hollow wood slowly lost itself to the wind, the door finally opened a tiny bit, showing nothing but darkness behind it.
"His presence is loud; his voice not hollow."
"Our head held proud; his will we follow."
The door finally opened completely, shedding light on a massive man that seemed to be made purely out of muscle. His tanned skin was stretching and bending to cover all the muscle this man possessed, and Narlou was almost sure that they would pop if he poked them with something sharp.
"Lady Two, welcome Home."
Despite his intimidating looks, Narlou found himself immediately liking the mountain of a man's calm voice.
"Hello Brud, I assume that the Boss is currently here?"
The man nodded once, before finally glancing at him with a pair of narrowed, beady eyes. Narlou would've been scared if not for the man's ridiculous body proportions making him seem more like a badly drawn character from a weird nightmare that would leave you questioning your sanity after you woke up.
Still, to his relief, Two seemed to have noticed Brud's glance, because she quickly paled, coughing into her fist.
"Ah, I apologize. Brud, this is N-Narlou, the one the Boss wants to see. Narlou, this is Brud, the guard of this entrance to the underground of Ionia."
Narlou nodded in the man's direction with a quick smile, trying his best to avoid any eye contact that might lead to him laughing at Brud's face. He quickly forgot about the funny man though as the words finally registered in his mind and his curiosity got the better of him.
"This entrance? There are more?"
"T-this is an entrance only a selected few know about because it leads directly to the Boss. Most people use different entrances all over the city to get into the underground."
She motioned for him to follow her as they strode past Brud and into the darkness beyond. The cool air smelled damp and dusty, not unlike the air in the mines he used to work at. Each of their steps was accompanied by a muffled sound that echoed through the two-person wide tunnel with hollow vibrations seeping in and out of the cracked walls. Despite his ridiculously enhanced eyes, he couldn't see far down the tunnel that seemed to twist in unpredictable patterns as it carefully descended way past the surface level into unknown blackness.
"So, what's all this underground stuff about? Is it the name of your group?"
The echo of his voice was way too loud for his liking compared to the absolute silence only interrupted by their steps, and another wave of regret spread in his stomach as Two violently flinched.
Still, she raised her hands, clapping two times in a quick succession.
He felt the flow of magic in the walls way before he saw the results, but the sudden ignition of dozens of candles along the walls lighting at the same time made him raise his eyebrows.
"M-my apologies, I unjustly assumed that you know the Underground already your battle skills. Allow me to explain."
"It's alright." He was quick to assure her, though he couldn't tell if it did that or only made it worse.
He suppressed a sigh as the woman in front of him slowed down to a comfortable pace, taking a deep breath, and glancing at him over her shoulder for a quick moment.
"The Underground is what we call the whole space in which people of all types and backgrounds meet to do business or, well, entertain themselves. Though I guess that word's meaning is stretched by a lot here."
She peeked at him again as if to make sure that he was still listening before turning forward. Looking past her, Narlou noticed another big wooden door less than a minute's walk away from them.
'Must be the entrance.'
"It's called the Underground because it is quite literally under the ground. Under the capital city of Navori to be precise. Down here, we don't discriminate. We don't care if you are a human, a Noxian or a Vastaya. If you behave and don't cause any trouble, or tell anyone from above that this exists, you are free to roam around here as much as you want."
'A Noxian, huh?'
Narlou quickly stepped up to her as they came to a halt in front of the sturdy looking door, ignoring the way Two stiffened at his approach.
"One second, please."
Placing both hands on it, Two pushed against the old wood, revealing a massive room that seemed rather plain at first. The floor and walls were made out of smooth grey stone and the ceiling was at least double his height. Furthermore, some kinds of glowing orbs aimlessly floated around the room, giving it a mysterious shine that couldn't be replicated with normal light.
"Wow…"
His eyes landed on a stone pillar that he had previously overlooked, and it stole his breath the second he tried comprehending the extremely complex carvings covering the stone structure from top to bottom.
With its tail gently coiled around the lower part of it, a big snake carefully slithered up the stone, going around it multiple times in the process. Its strong, scaly body carved with such detail and care that it would've looked real with the fitting colors ended in a head with two glaring eyes, staring them down like they were intruding into its territory. But it didn't end there. Every part not covered by the snake's body was instead covered with little symbols and figures, each with their own little story and their own little lives. And yet, despite the large number of carvings, not one of them was not done with care and love. Each was created with such detail that it almost seemed impossible for a human to do.
In his awe, Narlou hadn't even noticed that he had walked right in front of the pillar, his hand carefully running over the work of art like it was a long-lost dream that he finally remembered.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
His head snapping to the side like a child caught stealing candy, and he quickly took his hand off the pillar like he burnt himself before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"S-sorry, I didn't mean to touch it."
For the first time since he lost control, a tiny smile played at the corner of her lips.
"It's alright. I was also like that when I first saw them."
"Them?"
Looking around, Narlou's jaw dropped like a sack of sand. The pillar he stood in front of was just one of ten pillars that were built a few meters apart from each other, creating one straight line. And to top it off, those ten pillars were also flanked by yet another ten pillars parallel to these, creating a pathway between them that seemed more like a passage of kings than something that one would find somewhere deep underground.
And each one of them had carvings just as breathtaking as the pillar in front of him.
"By Targon, how is that even possible? Just… How?"
Two shrugged, crossing her arms.
"No idea. They were here long before we came."
Still in disbelief, Narlou could only shake his head. This was by far one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen, and he'd doubt that even days would be enough time to comprehend each of these exotically stunning carvings.
"Now then, let's see if he's here."
Two silently stepped in between the Pillars, motioning with her hand for Narlou to follow without looking at him. He hastily did, not wanting to be left behind in such an unfamiliar environment, and when he finally fell into step with her, his breath was taken once again.
On cue, every previously aimlessly floating light suddenly gathered at the edges of the path with perfect distance to each other, gently lighting the way for them and causing the rest of the otherwise hollow room to fall into darkness.
"Here we are."
They stopped in front of a massive arched double door. These, like the rest of the room, were also made out of smooth stone with beautiful carvings all over them, the only notable difference being a hue of gold on the doorframe.
He was once again distracted from observing the masterful carvings when Two clapped once, the sound echoing around the room until it eventually faded into nothingness.
"I-it seems as though he is not here," She stuttered, stealing another glance at him.
He, in turn, gave her a calming smile. Or at least he hoped it would be calming.
Two looked away quickly, suddenly standing straighter.
"That c-can only mean one thing." She muttered under her breath, abruptly turning around.
Two quickly walked back the way they came from with Narlou once again following besides her, only instead of leaving the passage between the pillars to go back to the door that they entered through, the woman kept walking until they reached a significantly smaller, plain wooden door at the other end of the room.
"And what exactly does that mean?"
Putting a hand on the doorknob, Two turned to glance at him over her shoulder as she pushed the door open.
"That he is at the Pit."
The view he was greeted with was nothing like he expected. They stepped through the door and into a giant area that was many times bigger than the room behind them. Something that he could only assume to be a massive version of the small magical lights from before was brightening the room like a sun from above, and the floor was covered with many small stone blocks that created interesting patterns on it. But despite its massive size, it was almost completely empty. Only a handful of people were aimlessly wandering around or sitting against the surprisingly clean stone walls.
"This feels wrong."
"That's because it is."
Narlou followed once again as she walked straight through the area, approaching a huge open exit that was flanked by two pillars of stone.
"This place is the main hub of the Underground. Normally, thousands of people would waste away their time here with whatever they do."
Only now did Narlou notice the many different bars and other establishments that were placed along the walls, making it almost seem like a marketplace, though this one being deep underground.
"It's empty now because the Pit is open."
He scratched his head in confusion.
"Everyone left because a hole in the ground has opened up?"
There was a short silence as Two raised a hand to cover her mouth, though that turned out to be useless as a small giggle escaped her. It was a beautiful sound.
"I-I apologize. It has been quite some time since I met someone who doesn't know what a Pit is."
"N-not that I fault you for it. You couldn't have known." She added hastily.
Without waiting for his reaction, Two turned towards the pillars and hastily continued walking again, causing Narlou to silently follow.
"Instead of explaining, allow me to show you what a Pit is, and why this Pit is superior to all the others."
She led him past the entrance and along all kinds of things that Narlou would've never expected to see underground. They walked past sculptures of people he had never seen before, past rivers that shouldn't even exist, but what impressed him the most where the open spaces that had no ceilingabove them, like a massive garden that seemed so out of place in the middle of this underground city. If one were to look up, they could see the sky from there.
The fucking sky.
"Did they really dig up to the surface just for the garden to appear more realistic?"
He couldn't help but ask, as it just seemed like such a waste of time. Not to mention, wouldn't the people from above notice a massive hole in the ground?
As if reading his thoughts, Two shook her head with another tiny, amused smile which she quickly hid away from him.
"I-it's magic. Some powerful Illusion Mages created the artificial skies to make the underground less depressing."
"Yeah, that m-makes sense."
He would've bashed his head against the wall if not for Two walking in front of him.
'How fucking embarrassing!'
His ears suddenly caught the sound of people cheering in the distance as they kept walking. The closer they got, the clearer it was. Hundreds, no, thousands of people, if not more, were cheering and shouting not too far from them.
Was this where this Pit was?
"We're almost there, so prepare yourself for the real reason of the underground's existence."
She almost seemed proud while saying that, and despite trying to stay calm, he couldn't stop himself from becoming excited. The loud voices, the sound of people cheering, and the atmosphere of entertainment got his fingers tingling with anticipation.
They finally rounded the last corner of the tunnel they walked in, and Narlou's eyes widened. He had already assumed that the Pit must be quite large based on the number of voices he could make out, but his expectations were completely blown out of the water as his eyes adjusted to the light of a bright, artificial sky hanging high above the giant, downright monstrous Arena that stood before him.
Two had led him to a place where he could look into the Arena from a higher point, so he saw the true scale of it right away. It was almost as big, if not bigger than the main room he saw previously. Every seat was filled with people, everyone was shouting like a lunatic, and in the middle of it all was the battleground where two large men were currently fighting with their bare fists.
Immediately, Narlou became enthralled by the show as each punch sent teeth flying and blood spilling. Their bodies were already bruised and battered, yet they kept fighting with a smile on their faces like it was their best day ever. The crowd roared like wild animals as one of them hit the other straight in the face, causing the man to stumble back in a daze before catching himself just in time to dodge a follow up punch by the other guy, who overextended from not hitting his target. Using the small advantage, he sent the man flying with a strong kick to his chest, causing the crowd to go crazy once again.
It went back and forth like that for a few quick minutes, before one of them finally got knocked out by a particularly strong punch to the jaw.
"I'm glad to see that you enjoy the Pit."
Narlou stopped himself from jumping in surprise Two's words reached him, catching him off guard. He hadn't even realized how invested he had been in the fight until now.
An embarrassed smile reached his lips.
"It was definitely entertaining."
She nodded and glanced at him, causing their eyes to meet. He gave her a friendly smile, but she once again paled before quickly looking away, but this time, he noticed a small, barely noticeable blush on her face.
'Or the light is just playing tricks on me.'
He sighed. Either way, he hoped that his friendliness would make her warm up to him quicker. He knew that what happened must have been traumatizing for her, and he felt terrible about it, but what else could he do? He was, understandably, still angry at her lack of action that night, but he knew that there was a very friendly, if a little unique person under that mistake.
A person that he had almost killed in cold blood.
He shook his head, sighing once more.
'Maybe she'll forgive me, maybe not. Only time and effort can tell, I suppose.'
"I t-think you and the Boss will get along very w-well." Two said, making Narlou blink.
'Ah.' He quickly realized, having almost forgotten about his last statement.
"A-allow me to bring you to him."
"Yes, of course."
He straightened himself.
It was time to focus on the real reason why he was here.
To meet the Boss.
Those words suddenly seemed much more intimidating as Narlou let his gaze drift over the crowd of people. Being the Boss meant that not just this whole Arena, but likely the entirety of the Underground belonged to that person.
He tried to wrap his mind around that fact as Two led him through the masses of people and into the direction of a fancy-looking space carved into the side of the Arena.
Even Lady Karma was not the sole leader of Navori, but instead a member of an entire council of people who governed the city, and though she might be the leader of that council, she couldn't just decide everything by herself. So, for a single person to control this entire place meant that that person must hold immense power.
Focused on his thoughts, Narlou only noticed what was in front of him when Two coughed into her fist loudly.
"Here we are. You should go in first, he already expects you."
Nodding, Narlou stepped onto the stairs leading to where the Boss should be, when Two suddenly grabbed his wrist. She quickly let go once he turned around, and this time he could swear that there was a red hue on her face as she looked at the ground.
He quickly pushed his thoughts about the meaning of said blush to the side for later as he concentrated on her words.
"D-don't let his power intimidate you."
Not sure what to say or how to react, he simply nodded in acceptance and continued to ascend the stairs, until he finally reached the top.
He suddenly understood Two's warning. And he smiled.