Let's get ready to RUBBLE!~

Ruination: Return Chapter XX

Fool's Errand Part IV

Yasuo's anger grows stronger with every step.

They are running, dodging, and weaving around the possessed elementalists while being hounded by the immense elemental, which attacks anything within its claws.

Lucian is keen on pushing forward, and it is not like he can argue against it. They have no other way to go, but what brought them here stung.

He had not cared to hear their opinions, their questions, their worries.

He had made the deal, and for what?

A rumor of a chance of a hope?

He parries another boulder that comes screaming towards them from behind.

"We need to find a way out of here!" Yasuo demands.

"We need to keep moving forward!" Lucian counters, firing a shot, dropping one of the elementalists before it can tackle Ezreal.

"To what end?!" Yasuo demands, ducking as Graves fires several shots into the face of the approaching elemental. "We are moving deeper underground. You expect us to fight back to the cave-in and then, what, tunnel out? We don't even know how deep we are!"

"Why don't y'all save this chat till after your lives aren't in danger anymore," Pyke notes, dragging one of the elementalists away from Graves, slamming them into the wall, and drawing his dagger free.

"Your lives?" Ezreal asks, shooting the revenant a look.

"I can leave whenever I want. A bit of rubble isn't an obstacle for me." Pyke states flatly.

"Lovely." Graves mutters, unloading another shot into the face of the elemental.

Yasuo grits his teeth and nods, cleaving through another thrown boulder and then sending a brutal slash, which rends the air towards the elemental.

It carves across its side, slamming into its arm and nearly cutting it in twain.

His eyes widen as he sees several of the gems covering it flicker.

"Focus fire!" he states, gesturing to the elemental.

Pyke ignores him, harpooning and bashing aside elementalists, but the others turn.

Ezreal's bow extends, Lucian's guns begin to flair, and Graves loads a cylinder of relic stone into his cannon.

The barrage of light that follows crumbles and shatters vast swaths of the elemental, which roars in fury.

Graves' cannon barks, and the cylinder shoots free, embedding into the remains of the creature's head and exploding in a vast corona of light.

The entity lets out one last creaky bellow and then crumbles to the ground, inanimate.

The quartet stands there, breathing hard, Graves taking a long drag from his cigar.

"Had your smith tool me up something special, based on my main girl," he states, patting his cannon, "Des III might not have her roar, but she's definitely got her flair."

"A waste of relic stone," Lucian remarks wearily.

"Nah," Graves states, "Helped us kill the big bastard, didn't it, and look."

He reaches into the rubble and pulls the cylinder free, "Still intact, just like he promised. Just have to uh… 'recharge' it, I think he said."

"How?" Ezreal asks, eyebrows raising.

"No clue." Grave replies with a shrug, "Magic and hope… ain't that how y'alls stuff works?"

Yasuo groans and glances around, looking for any more enemies.

"I think we're clear," he states, "For now."

Pyke nods and turns to Lucian, who once again is staring down the tunnel before them.

"What are we doing, Lieutenant?" Pyke growls, his voice a hint accusatory, his dagger dancing between his fingers.

"We go deeper," he states.

Yasuo sighs, "Lucian we-"

"Not just to find what I am after," Lucian states, cutting him off. "We can't get out the way we came, not unless Graves fires that gadget of Beryns and risks bringing the tunnel down on top of us. Hopefully, we can find a connecting tunnel that leads back up further down."

"And if we come to that before you find your 'treasure'?" Graves asks, shaking ash from the end of his cigar.

The others stare at Lucian, who seems to grapple with himself for several moments.

And in the end, he doesn't answer, simply staring forward.

"That's what I fig-" Graves begins, but Lucian speaks up.

"Then you go find Senna," Lucian states, "I made this deal, not you, so if I have to reach my goal by myself in the end, then… I will."

The others share a glance, and Yasuo just shakes his head.

"There is a saying, the road to the hells is paved with good intentions," he states, eyes staring into the back of Lucian's head. "Feels apt in the world we find ourselves in. How certain are you that you're not leading us down one of those roads?"

Lucian looks back, "As I said, none of you need to stay with me, and I mean that. No judgment, no anger. I know I am not being entirely rational. Whatever happens, it is on my head. It's up to you if you wish to follow."

"I think Senna would be pretty pissed if she learned we left you alone down here." Ezreal notes.

'I think she'd be pretty pissed about how this all came to pass," Yasuo remarks, taking a drag from his flask.

Lucian sighs, "You'd likely be right."

"Then wh-" Yasuo begins, but a rumble cuts him off.

"When are y'all gonna learn talking is a waste?" Pyke growls as the sound of something approaching from behind sends them all into a sprint deeper beneath the ground.

Senna blinks her eyes open, feeling for a moment as if the entire world just shifted beneath her.

"What—" she begins, looking around the tent in confusion. Gwen looks over her, her eyes wide, her head tiled as if listening, scissors shrunk and clasped in her hand.

"You felt it, too?" she asks.

"Mhm, what was it?" Senna asks, stifling a yawn as she sits up.

"Skarner," a gruff voice states, and she turns to see Nidalee standing in the tent's opening. "Something, once more, has upset him."

"My bet is our companions," Olaf notes, stretching and scratching his back as he rises as well. "Any takers?"

"Suckers bet," Riven counters, already awake, sharpening her blade rhythmically.

"Regardless, Milio is awake and is eager to meet you," Nidalee offers.

"Of course,' Senna states, standing immediately.

"Are we truly trusting our mission on the memory of a child?" Vayne asks, appearing at the mouth of the tent as Senna and the others funnel out, "Can you not sense the fetter's presence?"

Senna could, but it is indistinct in a way she hadn't experienced before, as if something were attempting to obscure it.

"I know that it is not in danger, but direction, placement, that alludes to me; I do not understand what could be doing that," Senna admits.

"Why must there ever be complications,' Vayne returns with a groan.

"Is the boy an illusionist?" Riven asks.

Nidalle shakes her head, "That is not his core nature, but… he is fairly inventive."

"Even if he was, do you really think he would have the power to hide something that charged?" Vayne demands.

Riven shrugs, "Demacia might curtail magic's growth at every turn, but even you should; it is stronger in some folks than others, even at a young age."

Vayne huffs.

"What he can and can not do matters little," Olaf remarks, "If he can guide us to the fetter is the important matter."

"Are we going to take him with us?" Gwen asks, "That feels rather dangerous."

Senna has to agree, looking at the treeline beyond, the Mist barely visible weaving amongst the branches.

"It is," Nidalee states, a smile crossing her face. "But you will be hard-pressed to convince him not to come along. He has the… how do you say it? 'wanderlust.' Worry alone keeps him here."

"Rather foolish," Vayne notes.

"He is young," Nidalee returns wistfully, "With a good heart, let him be foolish for a while longer."

They come upon his tent and find the young boy sitting outside, kicking his feet as he hums a tune to the spirits around him, a large kiln-like backpack with a fat spirit inside, with a contented smile greeting them first.

"Good morning, little firebug," Nidalee calls, and the boy turns, revealing brown eyes momentarily flecked with the orange of the newly risen sun.

"Nidalee!" he calls, running up to her excitedly and then stopping as he takes in the strangers around her, "Are these the 'Sentinels'?"

He puts air quotes around the word, staring at each of them with awe.

Much of his attention seems to be grabbed by Gwen, who smiles and gives a tiny wave.

"Hello," she states sweetly, and he tilts his head to the side, eyes locked on her weapon.

"Are those scissors?" he asks incredulously. Olaf suppresses a laugh as Gwen blinks, surprised.

"Y-yes, they are!" she states, flipping them around.

His eyes widen slightly, "Do you fight with those?"

"I do?" Gwen returns, looking to Sena confused, and she can't hide her smile at the doll's confusion.

"Cool!" the boy states, "My Grandma won't even let me run with scissors!"

Olaf lets out a bark of laughter, and Riven cracks a smile while Gwen lets out a confused giggle.

"Smart lady," Senna offers, drawing the boy's attention to her.

"Quite." Vayne snaps, clearly already tiring at the boy's upbeat presence.

"To your question, firebug, yes, these are the Sentinels." Nidalee states, gesturing to each in turn, "This is Gwen, Riven, Olaf, Vayne, and Senna, their leader."

Milio mouths each name as he looks at them, and then grins up at Senna, "Good to meet you, do you need any healing?"

"No, thank you," Senna states, kneeling down before him, "We heard, you know where to find something we need."

"What?" he asks.

"A mask," Gwen offers, pantomiming on across her face, "Made of jade."

"Oh, I," he pauses, looking to Nidalee, who nods for him to continue. "Yes, I know where that is. Why do you need it?"

"We're trying to keep it out of the hands of some very bad people," Senna answers.

"The ones that brought that poison to your home," Olaf offers, pointing towards a tendril of Black Mist rising above the jungle in the distance.

"She hoped someone would find her," he murmurs.

Senna blinks in surprise, "What?"

"There's a spirit inside the mask," Milio states, the others sharing an intrigued look, "Did you not know that?"

"No, we did, but how did-how do you know?" Senna asks.

"I… felt it?" Milio offers, looking nervous and confused. "I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, it's just…" Senna begins, feeling a welling of affection within her chest not entirely her own.

"Most don't know she is in there. They can not feel her." Gwen offers, her smile dropping for a moment.

"Is that why she is so lonely?" Milio asks.

"I-" Senna begins, a pang of hollowness shooting up her spectral arm.

"Yes." Gwen finishes, resting a hand on Senna's shoulder, bolstering her.

"How did you come upon this mask?" Vayne demands.

Milio looks at her, taking an unconscious step back, "Um."

"Do not worry, she does not bite." Olaf comforts with a grin, "Much."

Vayne turns her withering glare on him, and he returns it with a wider smile. Riven covers her own grin with a hand.

"We are curious how you came across it, though," Riven offers.

"Well… it's a long story." Milio states, "I was in Ixaocan, the big city, and people were getting worried because that Black Mist stuff was approaching, wards were fluctuating all around the city, the leaders were acting… strangely, and then…"

He pauses, going a little distant.

"Milio?" Nidalee prods, putting a hand on his shoulder. He snaps out of his stare and continues, "I fell. Some of the other Axiomata wielders, magic users, were attacking citizens, changing into… into things. People were running, and the city was closing up, this voice rumbling from below, promising we would be safe."

"Skarner." Nidalee growls.

"I guess." Milio remarks with a shrug, "But yeah, I fell, this big chasm opened up, and suddenly I was somewhere else. There were pretty important-looking items everywhere, and there were… people, too, locked up in magic prisons. One of them spoke to me, told me all sorts of things, urged me to leave, told me to stay hidden, and they felt… familiar. More of those things showed up, and I ran with my fuemigos, but then… the mask called out to me. It… I couldn't leave it behind with them."

"Where did you leave the mask?" Senna asks.

"A ruin I found." he returns.

"Why?" Riven queries.

"It… felt right." Milio offers.

"Can you give us a map to where it is, one that Nidalee could understand?" Senna asks.

"Maybe it might be better if I showed you, though. I hid it pretty well," Milio states.

"I'm sure we could find the mask if you show us the way," Gwen says.

"Not the mask. The ruin." he corrects with a grin.

At this point, they had been walking for what felt like days, and there had not been a single offshoot tunnel.

Lucian feels angry at himself, at the demon, at Viego, but more than anything, he is furious that he has allowed himself to be driven this far.

"This has been… an exhilarating experience," Graves remarks as he flicks the remains of his cigar into the slowly shrinking river beside them.

"You didn't have to join," Ezreal notes, eying the mercenary critically.

"Fair." Graves returns, staring up at the ceiling, "Think we could wait out the Ruination down here, you know, if we don't starve."

"I can get us out.' Ezreal returns, tapping the Wayfinder.

"Then why haven't you?" Graves demands.

Lucian can feel Ezreal's eyes on him. "Because we would be abandoning the others. Sure, we could come back, but we'd be starting from square one, and… this is important."

Yasuo grimaces, and looks away, he had been silent for this stretch, but it is clear to Lucian that the judgment remains, just unsaid.

Pyke was ahead of him, staring around the tunnel, hunting for any threats, his dagger spinning and dancing between his fingers rhythmically.

"See, I keep hearing that, but I can't exactly figure why," Graves states. What exactly are we looking for?"

"I-I don't know." Ezreal returns.

"Then what is the point?" Graves asks.

"The point," Lucian interjects, "Is keeping my wife safe."

"From what specifically?" Graves returns, "Everything I have seen seems to hint she doesn't need much protection. She's honestly pretty damn terrifying."

Yasuo smirks at that.

"The things we're after, the fetters," Lucian explains, his tone terse, "They are pieces of Viego's deceased wife. His whole reason for doing all of this. He will do anything in his power to see her return to him."

"Covetous and familiar." Pyke remarks, and Lucian tries to ignore the barb within his words, whether it is purposeful or not.

"What do any of you think will happen when he claims all of the parts that are sitting inside her keepsakes?" Lucian demands.

Yasuo speaks, "He will come for the ones within-"

"Senna." Lucian finishes, "I watched as he ripped the majority of Isolde that clung to her out, and I could see her dying again! That last little bit refuses to let go, and do you not think he will rip her apart just to pry what remains away!"

"Gwen, too." Ezreal notes and Lucian feels guilt shoot through him.

"Yes, Gwen, too. Do you think she deserves that?" Lucian demands, "To die for something she has no control over? Whatever is down here can protect them!"

"Says the demon!" Yasuo cries back, "They're beings of deception! How can you be so sure that this isn't him just feeding off your desperation and you dragging us all down with you!"

Lucian goes to shout back, but instead, he deflates, "I… I can't."

"Look… le-" Ezreal begins, and then he pauses, staring down the tunnel.

"What?" Yasuo asks, and Ezreal holds up a hand, listening.

"Do you hear that?" he asks.

The others quiet down, and Yasuo perks up first.

"Wind," he states.

'A way out, thank the Lady." Graves mutters.

They pick up their pace and, moments later, find a tunnel arching upwards, the faintest bit of wind funneling down it.

Lucian stares up at it and looks further down the tunnel.

He had made a promise, he has to keep it. To salvage what little faith the others might have in him. To get a grip on himself. To face what is coming bravely instead of scrambling about in the dark.

All of those thoughts go through his head and are immediately forgotten, as he sees a pile of urns and scrolls at the corner of the tunnel below them, where it turns either into a chamber or more winding lengths.

He darts away, the others turning in confusion, Ezreal following first.

"What is it?" Ezreal demands.

Lucian gestures to the pile of ancient goods and freezes as he takes in the vast cavern opening before them.

It is like a cathedral of crystal, every inch carved from multi-colored quartz, and relics are strewn about it.

Things in the style of the vast city they saw above—Shuriman style, Noxian style, Targonian. Then he sees it, against the far wall, a section of masonry emblazoned with the sigil of the Sentinel Order, depictions of weaponry, and writing covering its length. Scattered around it are dozens of relic stone weapons.

"There!" he cries, racing forward.

His foot touches the quartz, the others a step behind, and the whole cavern shakes.

"Who dares?" the voice booms, and the ground leading back up the tunnel shatters. Emerging from the ground is a vast insectile entity, most closely resembling a scorpion, gray carapace painted in greens and oranges, two glowing blue eyes peering from between its vast claws. And carving across its back is an open wound that radiates with the Black Mist.

"Sentinels," the entity growls, taking in their outfits and weapons, "Once more, you dare intrude into my home. For what reason do you seek your death so readily?"

"You have something that belongs to us." Lucian intones.

The entity scoffs and shudders as the wound seems to pulse.

"Your people forfeited their right to what I claimed when they refused to leave when asked." Skarner states, pulling more of his vast form out of the rock, "You attacked my people, destroyed my creation. I am tired of your presence."

His body shifts, and Pyke bellows, "Don't let him dive!"

Yasuo glances at Lucian, and in a flurry unsheaths his sword, "Go, I won't be able to hold this long."

With a roar like thunder, Yasuo lashes his blade towards the vast being, and a tornado crackling with lightning wraps around the creature, forcing it from the earth and holding it there, buffering and battering it as it attempts to break free.

"Empyrean, hear me," Yasuo intones, beginning to chant in Ionian, each word seeming to send a new influx of magic through his blade towards the tornado.

Skarner shrieks, and other tunnels open as smaller, stone facsimiles of him unfurl, racing towards them, followed by many of the warped elementalists.

Graves, Ezreal, and Pyke move to intercept, defending Yaseo's flank, and Lucian races for the mural, weaving and dodging around oncoming attackers.

He reaches the mural, and his heart drops. He isn't sure why he believed he would understand what was written across it, but they were running out of time as he hears the vast entity thrashing and bellowing behind them.

"I can't read it," he states, glancing at the others, holding back a swear.

Ezreal, who had followed after him, glances over and then does a double take, "I can! If I had time, I could transcribe the whole thing."

"Then we'll give you time. Get working!" Lucian says, opening fire on several elementalists.

"This better damn well be worth it. Otherwise, there will be words." Yasuo snarls, sweat beading on his forehead as he keeps the tornado active, his arms beginning to shake.

All Lucian can do is nod, accepting the venom in the swordsman's voice.

Senna wishes she enjoy herself. The walk had been almost idyllic if not terribly hot, Olaf grumbling the whole time, while Milio, astride Nidalee's feline form, chats amicably with Gwen, telling her all about the flora, animals, and rocks he finds interesting, his little spirits hopping along beside them.

Riven seems relatively calm, though she keeps glancing behind them, eyes searching the tree line.

And Vayne had long moved ahead, stalking into the jungle to escape the chatter. The cry of a Mistwalker meeting an end somewhere beyond them is the only clue she remains around.

Yet Senna's mind is focused on the mask and Lucian. Getting the former is paramount, yet Lucain and the haunted expression he had when she awoke back at the base sticks with her still.

"We're here!" Milio calls.

She snaps back to the present, looking around hopefully, a frown crossing her face as all she sees before her is more jungle.

"Are you sure?" Olaf asks, looking at the young boy.

Vayne appears beside him before Milio can speak, "I can sense illusory magic and a ward."

She glances up at him, "I thought you were a pyromancer."

"Fire can do a lot more than people give it credit for," Milio states, smiling down at her, "It can do a lot of harm, but it can heal, help plants grow, and one of the folks in the prisons told me that before I needed to flee the city…"

He becomes distant again for a moment before shaking it off, but Senna feels her heartache because the boy seems clearly haunted by his experiences.

He casts his hands up, and the air ripples, cooling the scorching, muggy air ever so slightly. Senna blinks, and suddenly, the jungle before her vanishes, revealing a small Sentinel ruin, a ward flickering and guttering at the apex of the archway now resting directly before them.

"It is good at hiding things, too," Milio states with a grin, sliding off Nidalee's back.

She shifts back, looking around appreciatively, "A heat mirage, quite skilled little caster."

Milio's grin widdens.

"Did you do that as well?" Gwen asks, gesturing to the ward.

He shakes his head, "I don't think so. I just had a feeling that the mask would be safe here."

Senna touches the wall, the faint thrum of magic tickling her fingers, "Then who…"

Nidalee sniffs the air, "There are some rebels of the city that poke around the old ruins."

"Traitors, just like you and the boy," a voice intones behind them.

They turn, Nidalee pushing Milio behind her with a growl. Emerging from the jungle, spinning a massive chakram, is a Ruined woman with dark skin and white hair held back by a circlet over which Viego's crown hangs. Her clothes are patterned in the same manner as the few Ixtali they had seen.

"Quiyana," Milio murmurs, peering around Nidalee.

"That is the Empress of Element to you." the woman growls, spinning her chakram.

"Lofty title," Riven mutters, drawing her blade.

The wind shifts, the earth trembles, and impossibly, in the heat, ice appears on their breath,

"A fitting one." Quiyana intones, smiling menacingly.

"I think she'll prove able enough to keep your minions out of the way," another familiar voice states. Sena whirls, and standing in the center of the ruin, the shadow looming higher and higher, her garb a bit different than the last time she had seen her Vex.

"A mask, a doll, and a mistake," she intones, her shadow laughing silently, "How pleased he will be when I present you all to him."

Chaos reigns within the cavern as Lucian, Pyke, and Graves cut a swath through their attackers. Pyke lances and cuts apart people with brutal, silent efficiency, while the beat of Lucian's guns is accompanied by the roar of Graves' cannon, shattering the stone constructs to splinters.

And what is Ezreal doing?

What he does best: frantic archaeological study.

Ezreal is nearly done, the last of the translation sliding from his mind onto the pages of his journal, and he feels the ground quake.

"No!" Yasuo bellows, yet Ezreal knows that danger is coming a moment before as the wind suddenly dies.

He turns, feeling more sluggish than ever before, and a massive scorpion stinger is coming towards him, bigger than some houses.

"That knowledge is not yours to take!" the near-deific being intones as he erupts from the earth.

"We're Sentinels! You're the one that hoarded it away like a common thief!" is what he wishes to yell back.

But just like his limbs, his mouth betrays him.

He can get out of this. He just needs to focus.

He teleports, and yet when he lands, all he can feel is pain.

He screams and falls to the ground, clutching his face.

"Ezreal!" Lucian's voice echoes throughout the cavern.

And scene!

Next time the conclusion of the Ixtal Arc, and moving on to something new.

I hope folks are still enjoying this saga. We are approaching the end, folks. Three arcs remain, and then comes the epically-sized finale.

As always, comments, questions, and critiques are appreciated. This has been VeBeeker, signing off!