A Search Through Runeterra (Arcane)

"I made the stars to illuminate the perpetual nothing, and mortals use them for 'relationship advice."~ Aurelion Sol, The Star Forger.

Man of all the champs it could have been, its ASol's quotes today. Kinda hard to find a non funny one of his to be honest. For ASol alone, screw the immersion.

P.S. Another near 3k word chapter. So yeah, umm can we consider the previous chapter and this to around 3 chapters please. And the next chapter would come put the other other day? Its probably written already but still.

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"If anything happens, come here and ask for me by name. Roark. If we aren't there, venture into the Freljord. Find one of the bigger tribes. If we are there however, then I will make that process easier for you."

As he carried his daughter back home, the nomad's words, Roark's words kept replaying in his mind. Gregori had tried to wake her up but she did not budge. Her breathing was weak. But she was alive.

No.

The real issue was the other changes.

Her hair. It turned white. And her eyes. They turned blue.

"The souls of the Freljord are always called back to it."

Roark knew this would happen. How? 

It didn't matter.

He had warned him. An act he would be grateful for, since it came with instructions on what to do next.

He had stopped twice to catch his breath, the aftermath of pushing his body and magic that much had definitely taken a toll on him.

But he had a promise to keep and hence he soldiered on.

The two had been washed pretty far out and the walk was long. Three and a half hours later, he started recognizing the scenery around him.

The rain had started to let up on the walk back. And as the first rays of sunlight shone through again, he spotted something in the sky.

Squinting, he felt dread settle into his bones.

He broke off into a sprint, his mind going through hundreds of bad thoughts.

Why was there a Noxian magic alert flare over where his home would be? How did they get past the wards?

Were Annie and Leanna safe?

They should be.

They had to be.

They HAD to be.

As he broke into the clearing, he laid his eyes upon the now completely burnt house. And his heart shattered.

"No."

"Nonononononononono please..."

The same dread he felt the night Amoline disappeared settled into his bones. 

Then his eyes fell upon the carnage on the grounds. The bodies strewn about were all in Noxian armor. He walked past the creek not even bothering to use the little bridge. Spotting the captain's armor, he walked to the corpse.

Or the upper half of the corpse.

Something had crushed his head like a fruit. He bent down placed Daisy on the ground next to him and reached for the arms on the body. He lifted them up, looking for any marks of identification.

Most soldiers at higher ranks had tattoos, this one proved to be no exception.

A governor from House Mallat.

If a Mallat was involved, then a particular group of slippery bastards are involved as well. This wasn't a random encounter then. They wanted something or someone and they were willing to kill and destroy to get to it. His family was caught up in this.

If it was someone else he might have blamed this all on himself. But Mallat changed things.

Those clowns only served one group, they wouldn't be after him. If a group was out for him, they wouldn't risk killing him or his family. He had instilled much fear in them. The Grey was a name still feared on the battlefields.

No.

They had to have been after someone else. Couldn't have been Leanna or Daisy, couldn't be him, couldn't be Annie they wouldn't know of her.

The only person who fit the criteria, as much as he hated to admit it, was Amoline.

Her secrets were worth more than he had originally thought, it had to be if it made the Black Rose move.

He got up and analyzed the rest of the massacre, all dead. Ripped apart. Environment seemed both charged with magic while also showing significant burn marks everywhere.

Someone had let loose with their magic.

Copious amounts of fire magic.

Fire magic?

Annie?

He looked at the massive footprints on the ground. The creature that made these prints was probably the one that destroyed this warband.

And seemingly, this creature was probably on fire as well, he deduced after spotting patches of burnt grass around all the footprints.

Four-legged and bi-pedal. Strong enough to rip apart armored soldiers.

Around here, there was only one. 

Rumors of it was what Amoline used as inspiration to create Tibbers.

Shadow bear.

But shadow bears didn't catch fire.

Fine, he thought. 

Shaking he stood up and walked to the brunt remains of the house. It hadn't fully burnt down but it wasn't in good condition either.

The moment he stepped in he spotted the corpses.

Drakenhounds.

A whole pack.

All killed close to another body. 

He walked closer to the body, his mind putting things together but his heart refusing to hear it.

An adult woman. Attacked to death by the hounds.

Leanna.

His eyes watered and a lump appeared in his throat. He looked toward his shaking hands, his palms sweaty.

Then he thought about his daughter. And he prayed to not find her body.

Swallowing audibly, he continued past the body his teeth clenched.

And he did a full search of the house.

No other bodies.

None of the bodies in the house and outside it was that of a child's. 

Relief surged through him.

He walked outside and prayed to the god who always replied.

"Is my daughter alive and safe?"

A star shot past.

Yes was the reply.

He nodded to himself. His deductions were right.

"Can you place a star over my daughter's location until I find her?"

This was in the god's power, he knew she could do it.

And in his eyes, one star seemed to glow brighter than all others.

"Thank you. After its all over, I will bring my daughters to meet you."

There was no reply but he knew the god would wait. She was that kind after all. He didn't deserve to win the favor of someone like her but he knew he was incredibly lucky to have done so. He picked up the unconscious Daisy.

He then walked to the storage under the stairs. Placed her next to him and started looking through it.

The runic scheme had completely failed. And they showed clear signs of tampering.

He took a deep breath and looked at the rest of the items inside.

His shield was unscathed.

But two things were out of place.

Two books. His recipe book and the book on creatures. Both shouldn't have been in this location. Then it clicked. Leanna. She was truly a terrifyingly smart woman.

She probably figured out that the blood lock would work for Annie. Then she placed Annie inside as she got attacked.

The shadow bear attacked the warband outside since the wards went down.

Then Annie made her way out, saw her mother dead and being devoured by the hounds, she lost control of her magic in rage and burnt everything around her. The shadow bear probably did the rest and some of the fire probably got on its fur.

Finally, Annie probably ran in a direction away from here. Or taken away by someone. But since the god had said she was safe, she would be. He had enough belief in the god. She was incredibly compassionate and would never lie.

He picked up the books and opened the recipe book. There had to be something there, otherwise they wouldn't be placed here.

The recipe book had two letters. One from Amoline and one from Leanna.

Amoline had left him a letter. In his goddamn recipe book. The one book he had conveniently forgotten about. He hadn't used that book from before she died. Why would-

That was good.

She was smart. She probably expected someone else to find it instead of him. Either Annie after she had grown or another woman he had probably brought in. 

Who, in this case was Leanna.

He had ended up with two incredibly smart women. He couldn't hold back the tears as he read the letter.

Greg,

My love. I don't expect it to be you who has found this letter. If it is another woman, my friend take care of that hopeless man and take care of my daughter, that is all I ask. If it is Annie who found this letter, well my baby, taking up the hobby of cooking are we? Regardless of what you choose to do, regardless of who you marry, regardless of any choice in your life, my firefly, I will always love you. And whatever you do, stay away from dark flowers.

Finally Greg. I know I should have talked to you about what I was planning to do. Mind you I wrote this as you were bedridden and Annie was burning up. I figured out the cause of your paralysis that day. It was Annie. She had lost control of her magic. And when you touched her, her magic attacked the one person who was in contact with her. You. It was why you felt your whole body lock up and become unable to move. I hypothesize that she burnt the nerves in your body temporarily, they should be back a little while after I am gone.

Anyways, I have kept secrets. Big ones. The Kiosar being the first. I am a Kiosar, just the last living one. My family was eradicated in the last wars. 

I was picked up by a particular group. You might know it. They performed experiments on me. Experiments aimed to control something with my magic. That something bonded to me and helped me escape. And within a month of my escape, I met you.

I am glad I did.

I hope you watch our daughter grow happy.

And even if I am not there, Greg, you have become a wonderful father and I am proud of you. 

I suppose you could go to Demacia and rub it in your parent's faces.

Love and sorry, Amoline.

P.s. If you want to know what I was bonded to check out the covers for the Compendium of creatures. 

Tears flowed freely. She had still found it in her to encourage him and reinforce his belief in himself despite having to sacrifice herself.

In her message to Annie however, she left a little clue. Dark Flowers.

Black Rose.

They were the ones who experimented on her. He knew what they had been up to and are still up to. Magical experiments on children.

And further proving his deductions.

The next was Leanna's letter.

Greg,

It only seems right to call you that now, considering your previous wife has acknowledged me despite death. I would like to reinforce her belief in you. You are a good man and a better father. There is no one else in the world I would leave our daughters with. Though I would like to remind you that I did say that the three of you should have stayed home. Being swept away by the river is not ideal.

Finally, I think this time, your third child might be a boy.

Love Leanna.

No.

Leanna was pregnant. He had lost her and his child. A child who would not even live to see the world.

In that instant, he had made up his mind.

The Mallat will fall.

The Black Rose will be eradicated.

Every single one of their allies will have to face him.

And he would come out victorious. He was willing to go to any lengths after all. They had a hand in his family's suffering.

First however, was Daisy. He needed to take her to Roark. And after he made sure that she would was safe.

Then came finding Annie.

After all of that was done. Then and only then, he would give Noxus true fear. 

He was capable of at least that much.

He opened the second book.

Compendium of creatures. 

He looked at its thick covers on either side. Sliding his fingers along the binding on the inside, he felt for any abnormality. 

Nothing on the front.

Flipping the book around he did the same for the other end. His fingers hit a little tab right in the center. Using his nails to push it up, he slowly separated the fake cover. It came apart to reveal a small collection of pages bound together in an awkward manner.

He read the title, "The Demonic Compendium?"

The first page had a little letter in it.

Greg,

If anything out of your power happens and you are separated from Annie, do not worry.

She will be protected. Do not worry about that. You see the thing that had been bonded to me? It was an old demon. I moved it to the little stuffed bear I made, with the only instruction being to protect your children. I say your children because I hope one day you have another.

And in the case that something does happen, get off your ass and get our daughter back, I do not care what you have to door what you have to become.

Love Amoline.

He flipped through the small book.

The first of the ten.

Demon of fear.

Demon of lust.

Demon of gluttony.

All powerful demons said to exist on the lands wither completely awake or sealed in some way ort he other.

He looked through their names and he found one that irked him.

Tybaluk.

He had seen that name before.

On the day Amoline died. 

Fire.

Child.

Protect.

Tybal-

The runes were wiped out but he was sure this was what it meant.

Demon of Fire.

Things started making sense. Both Annie and Amoline had an greater than normal inclination toward fire magic. All the days of him thinking he left the fire on, where in fact, it was Annie or Tibbers lighting it up in response to the cold. And biggest of all, Tibbers was responsible for the massacre outside.

Despite knowing that his daughter is safe currently, the issue of who was in charge of her safekeeping was causing him more distress. Demons weren't exactly know to be kind and benevolent. 

He turned to look at his flower.

Daisy needed his help right now. And he would work toward that first. He would place his trust in Amoline. And hope Tibbers would keep protecting Annie.

He picked up his shield and a long weapon wrapped in cloth, runes running across every inch. His eyes lingered on the spear for more than a moment.

He would need to use it.

He would.

He then carried Daisy up the stairs, stairs that barely held up under their weight. His room had collapsed into the main room with the fireplace.

He changed her clothes into cleaner and dryer ones and picked up her and Annie's little bags and filled them with her clothes. Three pairs was all he could fit in. That would be enough.

Walking back down he tried to look for his own bag. He pulled out some clothes from the wreckage and shoved them in, changing into something dry in the process. He then to shoved in both the recipe book and the Demon Compendium into it. Walking into the kitchen he found the pot unscathed despite everything. He shoved some food down his throat quickly and filled up some waterskins for the two of them.

He anchored the long weapon to his shield and ran them across his back using torn pieces of cloth. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, hooking both little bags into his belt and picking up Daisy in a princess carry, he started his journey toward the nomads. 

As he crossed the bridge over the little creek, he looked back one last time.

He vowed to destroy the Black Rose.

He vowed to change the Trifarix to the Bifarix.

The Faceless would die.