"You have been dying from your first breath."~ Karthus, The Deathsinger
Guess who got an internship at one of the biggest semiconductor companies in the world?
Yep.
This fella.
Crazy.
This week is very hectic for me but I'll get to uploading normally soon.
Anyway enjoy the chapter.
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"Are we there yet?"
Gregori stopped walking and looked at Caalyx with disgust.
The eye on the spear rolled exaggeratedly, "Come on. Its a joke!"
"You should know if we are in proximity to the weapon." Gregori answered as he began walking once more, "Not me.... you."
"I guess.." Caalyx droned but then his voice changed to seriousness, "You know something?"
Gregori glanced at the spear.
"There is Darkin movement in Ionia." Caalyx spoke, "Just felt it. It was one beacon for a moment and then others responded in kind."
"Ionia....." Gregori muttered, "Our next destination."
Caalyx's eye dropped, "Thought we would be heading to Shurima but...."
"We would need to go there eventually." Gregori replied, "The emperor and his soldiers would be useful allies."
Caalyx's eye rounded onto Gregori, "You only see him as a useful pawn don't you?"
Gregori did not reply.
But it was true.
Unlike Caalyx, who was willing to swear allegiance to Azir and fight against the Void, Gregori did not care for the man.... the Ascended.... or whatever suited the now resurrected emperor.
He couldn't put his hopes on an emperor who failed his subjects multiple times and now requires them once more to solve his problems. If he really was that useful..... he wouldn't have fallen in the first place.
Failing his Ascension?
Causing the Sun Disc to fall?
Having his entire empire become a sand covered wasteland for hundreds of years?
These achievements were quite polarizing.
Gregori couldn't go about putting his faith in this kind of man..... regardless of how useful he might end up being. The historical record of failure could not let him. Not when the price of failing might end up costing the world.
"Do you think the war will begin in Ionia?" Caalyx asked.
Gregori nodded, "It is highly probable. The beacon will result in a lot of movement toward Ionia. And from the words of our new ally..... it seems like the spirit world is preparing too."
"How interesting...." Caalyx pondered, "The pesky spirits moving as well...."
"They cannot be trusted either." Gregori nodded, "Creatures with only their best interests in mind will not hesitate to betray us."
Caalyx didn't reply.
But Gregori knew that he agreed.
The spirits did not move when the Voidinvaded all those years ago but they wanted to help now?
Something was fishy.
A burst of wind rushed past them.
"Janna." Caalyx said aloud.
The wind flowed in front of them and formed a blue bird that lit up their surroundings with a soft blue light.
"I have received a sudden burst of believers and it was enough for me to find the weapon. I will lead you there now." She said and began flying forward rapidly, "Hurry! You have no time!"
Gregori began sprinting after her, "Is something happening above ground?" The wind at his back pushing him forward just a little faster.
"Yes!" Janna whizzed through the air, "There is a battle taking place. Your children are involved."
"Fuck." Caalyx cursed, "We have to hurry Gregori."
Gregori didn't reply but he grit his teeth and pushed off the ground, his magic responding in an instant and sent him forward with a sudden burst of speed right next to Janna. He couldn't help but wonder if his family had an uncanny ability to unnecessarily get involved with trouble. It happened with him and it was happening with them.
"Who are the enemies?" He asked, his mind trying to figure out who through his very few interactions with the local populace.
"The Noxian woman you spoke with some time ago is leading her army to get this man. Viktor." Janna began.
"I knew we shouldn't have let the woman live!" Caalyx cut in.
Janna refuted the statement, "The man is Voidtouched. The Hextechhe created evolved..... it is connecting his mind with others."
Gregori looked at Janna, "And you did not stop this?"
"My influence is not that strong." Janna answered, "If not for your son's actions I would not have gained what little power I have."
Gregori almost asked which son but it did not matter. Not now. He didn't have time.
"And at first it didn't seem like the Void." She explained, "He was healing them.... bringing peace but as more and more fell to him..... the influence of the Voidwas there. The structures began to change.... warp into those we saw in Icathia all those years ago."
Janna spun around a corner and flew straight down a hole. Gregori followed her without question, the shield in his hand raised in order to block or smash through anything in his way.
The bottom of the hole opened up into a large cave with a single tunnel.
"Right through there!" She said as she flew forward into the tunnel.
Gregori flew sideways as he pulled himself into the tunnel zipping through the darkness.
There was a subtle glow at the end of the tunnel that slowly grew bigger as he sped through it.
His eyes were blinded with a sudden burst of light as he flew into a large ceremonial room. The room was lit up with burning torches. Torches that should not have been lit. He frowned.
"PICK ME UP! I WILL GRANT YOU ALL OF YOUR WISHES!" A voice shrieked.
"You didn't need to ask."
His eyes followed the sound to the other end, his eyes widened as he spotted a cloaked figure close their hands around the edge of the Darkin harp affixed to the wall. The harp was like any normal harp but the frame was golden, the edges of which had sharp flesh and bone across its curves extending into one large fleshy protrusion. It hung over a platform surrounded by a moat of water.
"Gregori!" Caalyx yelled.
Gregori threw his shield at the woman while simultaneously pulling the woman's hands off the harp.
His magic failed.
ZWENGGGG
A cord played from the harp as his shield bounced off of nothing.
"I KNOW THAT ENERGY!" The words came from the person instead of the harp, "CAALYYX! THE TRAITOR!"
"Styraatu!" Caalyx answered, "Hey! Been a while! About a thousand years give or take! How are you!"
The person's cloak fell and Gregori recognized her in an instant.
The Noxian spy Ambessa had sent to invade the enforcers.
Maddie.
But she wasn't there anymore.
"Delectable."
Gregori looked down and spotted glowing red eyes slowly dissolving into the moat. The demon.
She had made a deal with the demon.
And it had led her to the Darkin and she followed without knowing that it would be the last thing she did.... or from her last words... she was willing to die for this. Her death just came a little earlier than she had expected.
"I'LL END YOU!" Styraatu shrieked as the body began to transform into its true from. A colossal being of magic that floated upward, the harp floating next to it. It had no legs, it torso coming together in the form of a V. Seven eyes floating around the almost formless body, two arms on either side connected to an almost container like form to contain the magic and the eyes.
The arm grabbed the harp and slid its sharp spindly fingers across it.
BWEEENNNGGG
"Raise the shield Gregori!" Caalyx yelled.
Gregori responded immediately, summoning the shield in front of him and covering his body with it.
ZWWOOOP
The shield held strong against the attack but its force sent Gregori into the ground.
The rest of the attack was a massive slash that torn up Styraatu's prison in two.
"WEAK! WORTH TO ONLY BE AT THE BOTTOM OF OUR FEET!" Styraatu screamed.
Gregori pushed himself to his feet and let his magic combine with Caalyx's.
"You don't have any feet though?" Caalyx said as they too began to transform.
Bones erupted from his shoulders, as he grew to massive sizes. Demonic looking horns forming on his head, hollow but magic flowed through them sending a burst of concentrated jet fire. Flesh and bones coming to the surface as his body took on a silver hue, his elbows and arms gaining horn like protrusions. Triangular wings sprouted out of his back, not like those on birds but more inclined for pure speed. The spear and shield grew to match his size and unlike the previous times he transformed, the shield changed too.
The spikes on its sides grew out into large bones. Flesh knit them to the shield itself. And unlike ever before, the shield throbbed with sudden force. As if blood was rushing through it. In its center, right in the middle, a crack widened until it opened up completely, revealing an eye that slowly blinked.
"This is the first time you have transformed with me being whole Gregori. You will be stronger..... but it will not last long." Caalyx said, "You do not have enough blood to sustain this."
"So does she." Gregori pointed toward Styraatu, "All she has is the blood of a woman a lot smaller than I and unlike Joraal, she is stuck down here with us and has no way to get blood."
Gregori raised his spear and slammed it into the shield.
BANG
He stood tall.
BANG
BANG
Styraatu strummed at her harm sending blades of sound at Gregori.
He disappeared.