"Goo Gaga!" ~Gnar, The Missing Link
Yes. I know. Kench is a Bilgewater champ. But demons aren't necessarily localized. Some stay put. Some don't. Some remain captured. Kench is free to move as long as the land near had a waterbody.
And yes. I did have Maggie pegged to be the villain for the arc. The crashout just seemed valid to be honest. Another thing is that I deliberately slowed down the pace of the story in order to increase the length of the arc. The thing is, this arc is short. Arcane S2 localized to a small group of characters was always going to be shorter. Just need to make the rest of the story pan out so there is an actual pay off.
Things will be pretty hectic for me till the eighth of December. I barely have time to relax. And I quit my parttime and am currently trying to land an internship. So December and January will be where I can give you guys a lot of chapters.
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A whole month had passed since Gregori had left for his search.
He had ventured through quite a few ruins and still hadn't found traces of the Darkin weapon.
"Hey Gregori."
And unlike his son, currently Gregori had no way to figure out how his children were doing. It was pure speculation at this point and even though he could get information to them..... they couldn't reply.
A one way connection that he wasn't sure even worked.
THUNK
The stone slab he had just stepped on sunk a tiny bit.
FZZZZ
Gregori lazily looked at the object flying at him and turned his attention away. But his magic flared in response and the arrows flying at his head began to split down the middle and hit the walls instead.
He resumed his thoughts as he continued walking without a care.
But he did speak out his mind every few hours in the hope that Sydell might be listening.
"Hey."
Another thing on his mind was Ambessa.
He had told her that her daughter would be kept safe. He was probably right. She was being kept safe.... just not by him. And it wouldn't be wrong to assume that his children were doing a pretty bang up job.
Despite everything, he knew he could rely on Annie, Rell and Briar. They often displayed maturity beyond their years and could be relied upon if things went south.
"HEY GREGORI!"
He shifted his eyes to the weapon in his hands. "What?"
"All the traps you were avoiding..... why don't you avoid them without using your magic. Pure physicality. It will help you in the long run. Currently you are over reliant on your absurd levels of magic." Caalyx spoke.
"You want my body to be in better condition than it currently is?" Gregori asked.
The one big eye on Caalyx's blade spun around, "Not your body. Your instinct. Those arrows. How would you avoid them without your magic?"
Gregori sighed, "I wouldn't have triggered the traps in the first place. The slab I stepped on was raised by a slight bit. Do you think traps created nearly a thousand years ago could possibly still stand without degrading over time? It is a miracle they even function."
"Just fucking do it and don't talk about semantics. You are not wasting your life away like this." Caalyx replied, "The movement will help your body resist the blood magic."
"Or make it so you get a fitter body to take over when I have to eventually transform." Gregori finished for him.
Caalyx chuckled, "Your body's fitness matters fuck all Gregori. I can remodel it completely." The eye squinted for a moment, "Wait... you are prepared to transform...."
"Yes."
"That means you are expecting something to go wrong." Caalyx pushed.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Gregori sighed, "Too many variables outside our control. The ongoing civil war. Noxus. The flower group. It doesn't leave much room to navigate safely. And considering the nature of our mission it doesn't seem likely that things will go in our favor."
"What about Horazi then?" Caalyx asked, "You just waltzed in and picked it up. And I remember you saying the same thing before." He mimicked Gregori, "Something's going to go wrong. I can feel it."
Gregori growled before relaxing himself, "Fine."
He reached for the shield and slid his hand into the bracer.
A few steps forward and something immediately stood out. An indent on the wall that looked like it could be pushed in.
"If the tunnel collapses because of this.... Caalyx I will ignore every opinion of yours for the rest of my life." Gregori muttered as he used the extra reach from the shield to push the wall.
SUHHHHHSHHHHHSHH
A burst of wind flowed from the indent.
CRACK
CRACK
CRAAAACCK
Gregori turned, only to watch the entire wall crumble and an massive earthen spike shot in his direction. "Fuck you Caalyx." He groaned as he dove out of the way.
BOOOM
The spike collided with the opposite wall and fell to the floor blocking the way back.
"It was worth a shot." Caalyx chuckled.
"To have me killed." Gregori finished for him. He frowned at the darkness the spike flew out of. "What sent something of that size through the wall?" He asked aloud.
"Hm?" Caalyx's eye spun toward the hole, "Runes. Pretty obvious. They used to worship spirts lad. These fellows weren't averse to magic. That seems to be a more recent trend. Almost as if someone is actively wiping out the land's magical history."
"As if someone is?!" Gregori let out a laugh. "You know for a fact someone is. What those in power do to stay there is something you can never underestimate."
"The flower group." Caalyx stated.
THUNK
A volley of arrows flew at Gregori. He raised his shield and braced for impact.
THUNK
THUNK
THUNK
THUNK
The arrows slammed into his shield, as Gregori made himself as small as possible under it.
"The flower group." He repeated, nodding as he stood up.
"Could have slice through them with a simple swing." Caalyx pointed out.
Gregori sighed, "You said no magic."
"I said not to use YOUR magic." Caalyx cackled, "Mine is free to use."
"Fuck off." Gregori said as he continued walking into the darkness.
Caalyx eye closed as he spoke calmly, "Say Gregori... what if you find piles of treasure?"
He stopped moving. "If I find piles of treasure..... I'll collapse the entrance to the place and return later to take it all."
"Didn't peg you for a greedy rat." Caalyx commented.
Gregori smiled, "Raise seven children."
"Cute excuse."
CLINK
RUMBLE
The ceiling above them began to crack.
"You are going back in the wrapping you evil creature." Gregori roared as he began to run .
-x-
"No the rune curves up here." Faye pointed to a book explaining.
Annie nodded, "If you curve it down, then it becomes something else entirely."
"How do you know all of this?" Mel asked.
"Daddy taught us." Annie answered.
Faye smiled at Mel, "Our father is quite knowledgeable in terms of magic."
Mel sighed. Of course. This mysterious father of theirs that her mother had begged. Her mother. Begged. She couldn't believe it. The children that came and went always spoke of him well. Going as far as to put him on a pedestal the likes of which she had never seen.
And above all.... this man knew her brother. This connection was the sole reason she was alive and breathing .
Even in death Kino was protecting her.
She grit her teeth.
The Black Rose were involved in his murder. It was confirmed when she had broken out of that illusion.
And magic.
All this magic that she felt everywhere around her.
It was absolutely electric. Every moment she moved the magic in her body, it sparked pure euphoria.
And just as she began to feel that she was alone in her connection to magic, the children all revealed to have some sort of connection to it as well.
And they were all better versed with it than her.
Immensely better.
"Has the Black Ro-"
"AY!" Daisy yelled. "Don't say it out loud!"
Mel held herself from finishing but confusion was evident in her face.
"Saying it out loud might alert them." Annie explained, "Daddy said its better to call them the flower group."
"Wouldn't you get confused?" Mel asked.
"As opposed to which other flower group?" Faye looked as if she believed that Mel was genuinely stupid.
"Ha! She is an idiot!" Daisy chuckled, before going silent and trying to slip into the back of the bar. Stealthily, she reached for a bottle of alcohol.
"Hands off Daisy." Sevika called from the large chair she lounged on. "I'm not keeping you away from alcohol. Jinx was drinking when she was younger than you. It is just that I would have to answer to your father."
Daisy peeked up from under the bar, "He'd understand if you tell him that the Freljordian in me yearns for alcohol. You know.... to warm up my body."
"You could ask me if you wanted to be warm." Annie smiled as a fireball lit upon her palm with a soft poof.
"Let not be rash." Daisy raised both hands and took a step back, "I'm leaving.... see?"
Mel also couldn't believe the location she had woken up in.
In the heart of Zaun.
Among the very reason her life was in shambles.
Jinx.
She had barely seen the girl, who had chosen to go around Zaun with the other children. And she hadn't tried to confront her either, but it was getting harder to ignore the urge to do so.
The doors flew open as Daani rushed in, "You guys wont' believe what we just saw!" He exclaimed as everyone turned to him.
"What?" Daisy asked.
"There's this dude. Viktor. He is healing people with magic down in the depths." Daani answered almost breathlessly.
The rest of the group walked in.
"Something about him irks me." Briar said as she plopped herself on the barstool.
"Wait. Viktor?" Mel asked. "Is he pale and thin? Sickly?"
"Don't know about sickly but yeah, he is pale and thin." Rell answered, "Walked around with a crutch though."
"That's him. Viktor." Mel smiled, "I'd like to meet him."
"You know him." Sydell commented.
She nodded, "Jayce and him were the minds behind Hextech."
"Then we talk to him." Sydell replied, "Father wanted to meet with Jayce but no one has seen him since his disappearance. This Viktor fella should do."
Mel closed her eyes and a flicker of pain passed through them. Another thing that hit hard. Jayce's disappearance.
The man she had seduced at first but come to love. She had tried to rush to Piltover for him once she woke but the children held her back.
"I think we should send word topside first." Rell spoke as she looked at Jinx who walked had just walked in. "They should know of this person of interest. Good to have multiple eyes on this."
Another thing Mel couldn't believe.
Their father had somehow stopped the crusade, Caitlin Kiramman had been going on and had subdued her, her enforcers and Jinx in the process.
"Do what you want." Jinx said as she walked up the stairs listlessly.
The youngest in the room, Isha, hopped off her stool and climbed up the stairs following Jinx.
"When do we leave?" Mel asked.
Faye looked at her, "Are you done with the runes?"
She shook her head.
"Then we aren't leaving till you are done." She answered, "And you get to draw your own runes on the cloak you will be wearing outside to hide your identity."
Mel let out a sigh and turned to the runes.
This would take a while.