Before I lose myself completely.

by delportism

Summary:

My parents always bragged about their adventures.

Ever since I was a baby, I was hearing about how awesome their voyages were. Everything sounded... magical. They were living the dream. The dream that many children imagined themselves living when they read adventure books before bedtime.

A dream that I also had. And, when they come back, talking about some cool Demacian dragon egg they found... I got on my knees. I begged them, crying to take me wherever they were going next. I couldn't stand my boring, average life anymore. I wanted more. I wanted so much more. I always wanted more. Maybe that was my big mistake.

And they accepted my request. I don't know why, but it took me by surprise. I asked knowing the answer would be a no, fully expecting to be refused. It felt weird. Them accepting my request felt like it wasn't supposed to happen... but it did.

I've been writing this for a while now, but there are some... events that I didn't record. I thought they would be better to just stay as memories. Regardless, it's important to write down everything I do remember.

Before I lose myself completely.

Chapter 1: Lavish Tomb

Ezreal Explorer's Diary

Runeterra, year 996 AN

My parents always bragged about their adventures.

Ever since I was a child, I was hearing about how awesome their voyage to places like the Freljord were. The freezing cold, limited supplies, disarming traps, hiding from the violent clans, and finding some priceless artifact to put a price on and sell to pay for their next very expensive trip. And also the rent for the house they were barely in. Everything sounded... magical. Like the stuff you'd read only on a book about some plucky adventurer who really hated Noxians. I was halfway waiting for the part were they ran from a big boulder that was chasing them down. Of course, that a fictional embellishment- and their stories weren't fictional. They were living the dream. The dream that many children imagined themselves living when they read those adventure books before bedtime.

Many children including myself. Truth is, I always wanted to follow them around. Give this 'archeology' stuff a try instead of listening to boring lectures by uncle Lymere all day. And, when they come back, talking about some cool Demacian dragon egg they found... I got on my knees. I begged them, crying to take me wherever they were going next. I couldn't stand my boring, average life anymore. I wanted more. I wanted so much more. I always wanted more. Maybe that was my big mistake.

And... against all odds, they accepted my request. I don't know why, but it took me by surprise. I asked knowing the answer would be a no, fully expecting to be refused. It felt weird. Them accepting my request felt like it wasn't supposed to happen... but it did. That feeling stuck to me, the feeling of sheer wrongness clear even all these years. I don't know. It's been, what, ten years at this point? I'm twenty now, and I was ten back then...

I've been writing this diary for a while now, but there are some... events that I didn't record. I thought they would be better to just stay as memories. Regardless, it's important to write down everything I do remember.

Before I lose myself completely.

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Small hills of sand stretched out as far as the eye could see, as the bright orange sun coated the view with a reddish tint. There were no sight of civilization around, only the endless desert and the very peak of mount Targon in the distance. Above a camel, sat a young boy and an older woman, both with locks of golden hair. The boy coughed dryly before taking a water canteen and drinking half of it in one single gulp.

"Alright, Ezreal." The woman took the canteen from his hand, catching the boy's attention. "You're going to stay behind us, okay? And if anything happens, if we trigger any trap, you run right to safety, alright?"

"Hahaha, come on, Tiffin." A man in the camel in front of them chuckled dryly as his piercing blue eyes looked back at them. "My boy's smart for his age. He knows how to take care of himself. Ain't that right, Ez?"

"Of course I do! I wouldn't ask to come if I couldn't." The boy answered smugly, crossing his arms. The camel below him on suddenly stopped, almost sending the boy to the ground before Tiffin catched his hand. "U-Uhm..." He looks back at the woman, embarassed.

"We're here." The man says, jumping off of his camel. He got a shovel from the his bag, digging away at a very specific hill of sand among many before hitting solid metal. He shoveled the sand away around the spot, revealing a ruby-encrusted golden entrance. "We found our trapdoor."

"These ascendend sure were a gaudy lot, weren't they?" Tiffin chuckled. "Although we should be grateful for vain people existing. If they weren't buying the shiny things we find, we would be out of a business."

"Hah! Can you imagine, Tiff? You in those ridiculous inventor goggles trying to make sense of some automatons while I'm trying to join the enforcers or something?" The man joked as he worked on opening the entrance, pressing the rubys in a precise order as he looked back and forth between the jewels and his map.

"Really, Varian? You? The enforcers?" Tiffin chuckled. "You would get beat by the first zaunite street urchin you'd fight. You might have the roles reversed there. I would be the one doing any enforcing."

"Woah, woah. Didn't know I was talking to Sheriff Kiramann herself. Need I remind you the last time you tried shooting a net gun? Imagine a real sniper rifle!" Varian laughed as he pressed the last ruby down. They all fall from their compartment as the small door opened. "And to think we almost paid that brickhouse Shuriman fellow to come here for us! Doubt he'd mention any jewels, especially removable ones."

"You're too untrustworthy. That Shuriman fellow seems very responsible." Tiffin went first, getting inside the entrance easily. She puts her arms out. "Alright Ezreal, honey. Let mommy help you get down, alright?"

"Okay, Mom!" The boy said, lowering himself onto her arms. She put him down on the rocky ground, and the atmosphere changes- from the scorching heat from outside to a almost cool, relaxing feeling from below that trapdoor. He stepped towards the moist rocks, his feet trailing the moss that grew on the sandstone. He looked around, seeing some rudimentary stairs leading to a place down below. He saw a soft golden glow coming from below. Ezreal felt... entranced by that glow, almost. He slowly inched towards the stairway, descending the steps carefully, eyes scanning for any pressure plate.

"Responsible, eh? Oh, please. He came in shirtless to negotiate, showing off those abs of his. He knew what he was doing." Varian said, as he finishes gathering all the rubys in a pouch. He also got through the trapdoor, although with a little bit more difficulty because of his weight. "Can't blame him, though. He really was good looking. Say, his village wasn't far from here, maybe we could pay a visit after we're done?"

"You want to talk about that with our son present, Varian?" Tiffin crossed her arms.

"He had a young daughter with him, didn't he? About the same age as Ez. We can just leave the both of them playing together while we... talk to him. I'm responsible." Varian chuckled as Tiffin stared daggers at him. "Relax, relax, I'm joking. Although we may actually need to go there to restock after this. It simply slipped my mind to readjust the amount of supply to account for three people."

"Restock. Right." Tiffin rolled her eyes. "I really need to give you a serious talking to after we're done here. You can't just keep hitting on-"

"Wait." Varian said, looking around. "Where's Ezreal?" They both pause, looking at the place they thought they left Ezreal at, and seeing an empty spot. Only small footprints on the moss leading down the stairs. They stared at the spot for a few seconds in disbelief, and then stared at each other.

"Shit." They said in unison.

Like a flash, they both descended through the stairs. "Dart!" Tiffin says as she stepped on a pressure plate in her hurry, and they both ducked at the same time as a dart trap is triggered, the dart piercing the sandstone wall cleanly. "Ball bearing." Varian says as he throws some on the steps to trigger any traps beforehand, as multiple darts pierced the walls before the couple ran down once more. One of the ball bearings triggered a falling trap, the sandstone moving roughly to reveal pointed lances sticking upwards. They jumped through the hole and kept running down the steps, deftly dodging any other traps that they find, cutting tripwires and jumping over plates. They eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and see a long, dark hallway in front of them.

"Ezreal? Ezreal, where are you?" Tiffin screamed out as she kept running through the hallway.

"C'mon, champ." He stopped for a bit, huffing to catch his breath. "What did we agree on? You stay behind us, remember-" Varian flinched as he steps on a plate. "D-Dart-" He says, and Tiffin ducked easily, but Varian himself isn't fast enough, getting hit in his arm by a dart. He doubled over in pain. "Ugh, it's poisoned..."

"What kind of poison?" She kneeled next to him. "Do we need an antidote? Is it paralyzing? How are you feeling?"

"Seems to be slow acting. It just stings, I'll be fine... Gh... We need to find Ezreal."

"Agreed." She offered her hand and he took it, getting up. "Let's keep going."

They continue on a bit more carefully, following the footsteps which carefully avoided each and every trap on the tomb. "Say, at least he didn't trigger a single trap. I'm proud of him. He's got potential." Varian commented.

"I have to agree. I'd be fine with bringing him on more adventures... After I give him a stern talking to about running off on his own."

They reached the end of the sandstone hallway, and are greeted with a blinding, glowing light. Through small gaps in the stone at the ceiling, the sun reflects off the room made of pure gold. They rubbed their eyes, hoping to adjust to the light as they both put their hands over their eyes. They saw Ezreal, their son, looking at... a solid gold tomb, with its lid removed on the ground.

Ezreal was staring at the contents of the tomb for a while. The body was well-preserved, but cracks were beginning to form. Some insects have slipped in through the protection of the mummification, finally getting to the flesh they so craved. The body wore two gauntlets, a gaudy golden one on its left hand and a more dull, practical-looking one on his right. His little hand was almost touching the gauntlets, but recoiling before he did, before moving towards the other and recoiling again. Entranced by each one equally, he couldn't bear to just pick one.

"Don't touch anything, boy! Gh..." Varian grunted as he slid down on the floor. "I'm starting to feel it. Grab him and let's get out of here."

"I'll get the antidote, just wait." Tiffin said as she ran towards Ezreal. "Ezreal, don't touch that! Ez-"

But it was too late. Ezreal made his decision.

As he touched the right gauntlet with his hand, it glued to it suddenly. "Ngh!!" He grunted as he tried to take it off, but couldn't. The temple started to rumble, and Tiffin finally reached Ezreal.

"RUN!" She screamed at his face. "Just run! We'll catch up to you. Wait for us at the exit." Ezreal looked at her confused, as if he had just came out of a trance. "Ezreal, NOW!" She threw him towards the exit, as she fumbled with her bag. "I'm getting the antidote, Varian. Just give me a second-"

Ezreal followed his mothers wishes, running quickly towards the exit. He jumped through the hallway, retracing his steps and not triggering any traps, and dashed through the stairs. Until he reached the hole in the stairs- something that wasn't there before. He panicked, but looking around, he had nobody to tell him what to do. As a big pile of sandstone bricks disconnected from the ceiling and started falling in rapid succession, pulled through gravity towards him...

He closed his eyes.

"I don't want to die."

And he felt power. Like something inside him changed, a surge of potency came through to him. He felt like he could do anything now. He opened his eyes for a brief second, saw the glow emanating from his gauntlet, and with a flash...

He suddenly found himself on the other side of the hole, the pile of bricks falling on where he used to be. He had no time to think about it, as he kept running towards the exit, jumping out from the cold cave to the arid desert once more.

And he looked around- the camels still had the supplies for travelling. He took them off the animals, setting them down next to the trapdoor. And he patiently waited, as his parents would surely want to drink some water after their escapade, he thinks.

And he waited until the day became dark.

And he waited until the sun rose up again.

And he waited until he couldn't take it anymore, and drank all the remaining water.

And Ezreal kept waiting, his eyes fixed on the golden trapdoor, waiting for his parents to come back. Because of course they would.

He started to feel a little lightheaded, so he laid down a little bit to rest. As his gaze fixated on the orange sun, he saw some strange black birds circling the sky. His gaze was getting weaker, his eyes slowly closing...

The last thing he saw was a shirtless figure approach-

"What happened to you?"

As consciousness slipped from him.

Notes:

Yes, I know this is scuffed. Don't worry, it might get better! (It won't.)

I wrote this in a sleepy haze when I found out that they were making black rose Ezreal. I actually had some interesting ideas about how to make that work but never really wrote it down, so it was now or never. I'm a bit out of practice with writing, but I promise I'll try to pick up the pace! Thank you for reading <3

This is an AU, if you couldn't tell. Here, the big point of divergence is Ezreal's parents allowing him to join them on their adventures, with some small ones along the way. In his OG lore, they never let him and just vanish. I thought this could be an interesting point to explore a completely different way Ezreal could've gone in his life.

In this comic, Ezreal was born in 976 AN. Yes, the names are Warcraft references. And the gauntlet he picks is the right-hand one instead of the left-hand one, so yes! He technically picked the one Kassadin has in canon.

Chapter 2: Mission

His eyes opened.

The brown wooden beams supporting the smooth, yellow-ish sandstone ceiling is the first thing that came into view. He blinked and he could still see the round shape of the sun as it was burned heavily into his retinas, but when he opened his eyelids once more the soft candlelight soothes out his pupils, as he layed there for a moment.

What is he doing here?

He tried pushing himself up with his left arm, but it wobbled as he fell down once again. Looking around, he seemed to be inside of a simple, small house. The white sandstone bricks of the wall didn't have a coat of paint over them and the furniture was all made of sturdy wood, being strictly utilitarian with no frills or patterns. His body felt decently comfortable on the soft bed he was in, but it was nothing like his own back in Piltover. He was draped under one thin wool blanket, barely enough warmth for the cold of the night desert. His body began to shiver slightly, as he noticed he was missing a shirt. He observed his surroundings once again, noticing another bed, this time a double one, on the other side of the room. Besides the sensible furniture, there were some interesting things- An intricate golden carved statue of something that looked like a man with bird-like features, a lot of clothes thrown around the room, candles sitting upright, creating the soft warm glow of the room, a painting depicting a family; A happy couple with her daughter-

Wait. Family. That's right! That's what he was doing. His parents must be worried sick. He was out adventuring with them when, when...

Ugh, his head. He pushed himself up, forcefully sitting upright this time as he grabbed his head. His parents, they were...

Fine, of course they were fine. They probably went through that kind of thing dozens of times. They probably found him laying there and went to a nearby village to ask for shelter. He tried getting out of the bed, but his right arm just won't work for some reason-

He looked at it and saw the heavy gray metal gauntlet on his arm. His memories start slowly coming back, and he remembers the two options he had on that tomb. The left-handed golden one encrusted with sapphire, and the right-handed dull, gray, armored one. Hah, his dad will probably berate him for choosing the less expensive looking one. He tried taking it off, but the gauntlet gripped his arm roughly, the leather-like insides gripping his skin. He tried pulling with all of his might, but it only hurted his right arm.

"Urgh! Why won't this stupid thing come off-"

He heard the creaking of the sturdy wooden door and looked back quickly, seeing a young girl the same age as him as she entered the room. Her piercing blue eyes fall on him as her silky straight black hair bobs slightly with the wind coming from the open window. Her worn garments were wide and oversized to allow wind to flow, made of linen with a yellowish white tint.

"Oh." She said, her eyebrows raising slighly. "Uhm... Hello."

"Hey!" He looked at her with a smile. "Sorry for crashing in your place! I must've been in a pretty bad state when my parents brought me here." He laughs, scratching his neck.

"Your... parents? I don't understand-"

"Ooops! I forgot. Mom always tells me to be polite and introduce myself first. I'm Ezreal! What's your name?"

"Uh." She took a step back, creating some distance. "I'm... Kai'Sa."

"Nice to meet you!" He shot her a toothy grin. "Thank you for letting me sleep here for a bit, but you must already be tired of a stranger in your home, haha. I don't even know how long I've been out. Could you just call my mom and dad and tell them I'm up?"

"Your parents aren't here." She said, looking down. "Only my father is here."

"Oh, uh... That's fine. They might've left to take care of something. Can you call your dad, then?"

"Yes." She turned to look behind her and raised her voice. "Father, the strange boy is awake!"

"Hahaha, you talk funny." Ezreal chuckled. "Wait. Hey! What do you mean by strange-"

"Wait a second there, Kai'Sa!" A deep, raspy voice came from a long distance as the heavy sounds of someone running on wooden floorboards got ever so closer. Kai'sa stepped away from the door into the room as a figure got closer. An imposing, tall, muscular man missing a shirt came into view as he runs into the room. His attire was poofy, comfortable white pants with a purple hem at the bottom and a brown leather bracelet on each arm. He got closer to the bed, next to the boy. "Are you alright, child? How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine! A small headache, but nothing much. Are you the one who patched me up? Thanks for that!" Ezreal exclaimed, smiling at him.

"You were lucky I was fulfilling a contract nearby, boy. I found you bruised and alone, dehydrated and passed out in the middle of the desert. How did you get there?"

"Well, hehe... I was exploring some ancient cave with my parents, and I ended up finding some dead guy with two gauntlets. I touched it and it stuck to my arm, and the place started to collapse!" He recounted, a glint in his eyes. "I ran out to the desert and must've passed out before my parents escaped too. Cool, right? It was like a real adventure! And I lived it!"

"Explorer parents, two gauntlets..." The man scratched his chin. "Are you Varian and Tiffin's child, by chance?"

"Oh, so my parents are already famous around these parts?" Ezreal grinned smugly. "Yup! That's right. The one and only Ezreal, son of Varian and Tiffin. You'll hear a lot of me yet and-"

"Those fools." The man sighed interrupting. "Listen child, my name is Kassadin. Your parents were considering hiring me to explore the Tomb of Ne'zuk for them, but they changed their minds in the end. The place is dangerous and infested with traps."

"You can say that again, haha." Ezreal sighed. "It was tough, but we made it out alright. Since you haven't seen them, they must be on their way or on another village close by. I should try to discover where, though. They must be very worried!"

"You don't understand? There is a real chance your parents didn't make it."

...

"W-What?" Ezreal broke the silence. "Hahaha, what are you talking about?" A nervous chuckle escaped his mouth. "It was my first adventure and I made it out. What makes you think that my parents, seasoned explorers, wouldn't?"

"Because they cared for your safety above theirs, of course. It's simply the way parents act." Kassadin replied, sighing. He goes to one of the closets in the room, strapping some brown leather satchels to his waist. "Kai'Sa, I'll be late tonight. Can you take care of your own food?"

"Yes, father. I can eat alone. Again..." Kai'sa said with a hint of bitterness in her voice, averting her gaze to the ground.

"Well, not alone." Kassadin said, putting on a short white linen coat on and moving towards the door. "The boy will be here as well. He can keep you company."

"Where... Where are you going?" Ezreal said.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to go to the Tomb and try to see if your parents are still there. They might've gotten trapped but still be alive."

"Wait!" Ezreal said, stumbling out of the bed. His gauntlet and arm seemed glued to the ground by the sheer weight pulling his arm down. "P-Please take me with you! I need to know if they're okay."

"Of course not. I don't know if there are still some traps active in that place, there's no way I'd take a child with me. Besides, you are still injured." He sighed. "Stay here and stay out of trouble. Call Kai'Sa if you need anything." And with that, he leaves through the door.

Silence permeates throughout the room, as Ezreal layed for a bit on the ground and Kai'Sa looked at him empathetically.

"Damn it..." Ezreal said, slowly getting up. He used his left hand to carry his right hand as he slowly stands.

"I-I'm sorry. My father can be... insensitive." Kai'Sa approached Ezreal sympathetically. "I'll... make dinner for us. Just stay here-"

"Not a chance. I'm going after him." Ezreal said as he slowly walks through the room, a bit of a limp in his walk.

"But... He said that you should stay here..."

"So what? We don't need to obey every single thing adults say." Ezreal grabbed his shirt from a nearby chair and put it on, struggling with passing his gauntlet through the sleeve for a little bit. "I'm going. You can either come with me or stay here." He said, looking at her expectantly.

Kai'Sa kept silent for a bit, as one of her hands instinctively went towards her face, as she nibbled on a nail. She looked deep into his eyes, seeing the fiery determination within. She took a deep breath. "I'll go with you."

"Great. Let's go."

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Heavy thuds echo in a desolate hallway. Silver metal meets black stone as the armored boots of the soldier stride confidently across the floor, reaching an impossibly tall black wooden door. The soldier looked around, the lack of a guard in such an important location even at night making him swallow dryly. Regardless, he has been summoned, and good soldiers follow orders.

He pushed with two hands, opening the heavy doorway with ease. The inside is gorgeously decadent- The walls built from a strong concrete foundation coated with beautiful crimson paint, decorated with carved mahogany beams, various ostentatious oil paintings and some taxidermied animal heads. But the most important element on the wall was the map- The whole map of Runeterra, beautifully drawn and painted by a master artist, highlighting the massive territory of the nation of Noxus in a deep, bright red. The floors were also made of that rich, sturdy mahogany wood, while the chairs opted for a refined maple wood instead. The long table the chairs were around was made of perfectly black ebony hardwood, shining against the torchlight that illuminated the room. In one of the chairs surrounding the table, sat an imposing figure, with a long cloak and only his light brown hair visible as it sat opposite of the door. Next to him, a thin woman stood, clad purely in a black satin cloak. The woman looked back at the solider who opened the door. Her deep red eyes strike the soldiers very soul, as her black lips curved upward slightly in a dangerous smile. Both figures kept quiet, waiting for their visitor to announce himself.

"Greetings, Grand General Darkwill. You requested my presence, sir?" The soldier said as he knelt down, offering the due respects to his superior.

"That's correct, Darius. I heard of your accomplishments in the battlefield and I have to say..." The imposing figure turned around to look at Darius, his wrinkled face sporting a small smirk. "I am beyond impressed with your prowess and obedience. Please, stand up"

"All of it was to reclaim Noxian glory, sir." Darius stood as his armor clanked, looking steadily into the General's eyes. "Good soldiers follow orders."

"And great soldiers get rewarded. That's why, given your devotion, I've found it fitting to elevate you to General. I shall assign a special platoon for you, as I've already have a mission in mind for you."

"I shall see that my next endeavors are worthy of such praise, sir." Darius said, trying to mantain a neutral tone. Although he couldn't contain the suble twitch of his lips, forming a small smile on his rough face. "I presume this is about last year's Ionian campaign, correct?"

"A decent estimate, but the Ionian campaign is progressing smoothly. The recent resistance is surprising, but nothing unmanageable for the troops already stationed there. No, you will be a key asset on a... personal project of sorts." He gestured to the woman to his side. "If you would, Lady Elise?"

"Of course." The woman said, her voice cold and harrowing. "One of my... contacts has informed me of a new asset in Shurima, specifically in the south of the Great Sai Desert. You and your platoon would need to collect it in one way or another. I shall accompany you, both as your client and to oversee your performance as a newly promoted general."

"I understand. Lady Elise, was it? It shall be done. What am I searching for?"

"A specific Shuriman artifact. A gauntlet said to belong to an Ascended. You shall be given a few months time to prepare."

"Affirmative." Darius said, immediately switching gears and looking to be deep in thought.

"You are dismissed, General Darius. Go on and start your preparation, your platoon will be ready by tomorrow. Do not fail." The Grand General said.

"Understood, Grand General." Darius said as he exited the room, leaving Elise and the Grand General alone.

"You still haven't told me what you need that gauntlet for, Lady Elise. You leave me endlessly curious." The Grand General said, looking up at her.

"And you shall stay curious. A lady doesn't reveal her secrets." Elise said, as she moved to leave the room. "Don't be anxious, General Darkwill. Once everything falls into place, your inquisitiveness shall be sated. Until then, focus on other matters. Your position requires a lot of attention. You can't spare it to focus on my issues."

"Of course, of course. You are dismissed, Lady Elise."

"Farewell, then." Elise said as she exited. The Grand General is quick to follow, retreating into his quarters.

The meeting room was devoid of life as the meetings and dealings are over for the day, but it's anything but empty.

"Let's see what happens next, shall we?" An ominous voice chuckled, echoing in the empty room.

Chapter 3: Reveal

Ezreal Explorer's Diary

The Great Sai, Shurima, year 986 AN

Kai'sa told me to start writing a diary. She told me it would make me feel better.

It's been a week since I got here. The name is Sai Village, because it's located in the Great Sai desert. The people usually just call it 'Small Sai', which I think is cute. It's like how Piltovans are called Pilties sometimes. Very cute.

That's it. I've just been staring at the paper for a while after I wrote that. I don't know what else to write. I'm not sure how this is going to make me feel better.

Maybe I should begin by writing down whatever happened since I got here.

Starting from that night.

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Ezreal saw it once again. The golden entrance with now empty spherical holes where precious gems used to be. He freezed up slightly, his pupils shrinking as he remembered the whole dungeon rumbling, the rocks almost falling on him, and what might have happened to his parents. A droplet of sweat ran from the top to the bottom of his face, hitting his shoes below as he started to slowly shake.

He doesn't want to go back there.

He tried to take a step forward, but his foot didn't leave the ground. His teeth grinded against each other. His imagination started to run wild- about what fate his parents might have faced. He felt his eyes start to water as his legs tremble, his vision blurring-

A touch.

A hand touched his shoulders, taking him out of his own head.

"Is everything okay?" He looked back and sees Kai'Sa speaking. Her eyebrows tilted outwards, her deep blue eyes looked at him with concern. "We don't need to go if you don't want to... My father will be fine. We can go back."

"I..." He hesitated for a moment, the touch calming his nerves. He released a long, drawn-out breath as he looked back at the entrance. He couldn't get cold feet now, not after dragging her all the way here. "I need to see if they're okay. But thank you! You're nice, Kai'Sa."

"Oh." She retracted her hand shyly, looking down. "It was nothing..."

He looked back at the entrance with renowed vigor. He got in without much trouble, and raised his arms. "You can jump down, I'll catch you."

To his surprise, she also jumped down with ease, not really requiring his assistance. "I hunt for food on my own, hehe. Don't worry, I'm not defenseless here." She brags, puffing her chest.

"Haha, okay. That's good to know." He said as he looked around, eyeing the cave he was in once more.

The rocky, yellowish white sandstone created a subtle warm light in an otherwise very cold enviroment. The moist rocks on the bottom were covered with green moss that sticked a bit to his shoes. The previous golden glow from that room that was visible from where he was standing has completely faded, the room probably sealed off in the destruction of the cave. He stepped forward, towards the only path not covered by stone- That same rudimentary carved stairway from before. Paying a bit more attention to the detailing, the carvings seemed to be depicting some Shuriman idols, including that same man with bird-like features that he saw on an idol when he was in Kai'Sa's room.

"I've been wondering..." Ezreal said as he points to the carving. "Who is that? You had a statue of him in your room, right?"

"That's Azir. Or instead, what Azir would've became if his ascension took place." Kai'Sa said, getting close to the carving. "That's why my history teacher said, at least. She's really cool, I can introduce you to her if you want me to."

"Ascension? What do you mean by that?" Ezreal asked.

"Well, apparently... what my teacher told me is this:" She started, putting one finger up as she mimicked another voice. "Over five thousand years ago, the greatest people of Shurima had their souls 'preserved', so to speak. They underwent a ritual that turned them into more than humans, usually resembling animals. Nasus, a smart librarian and Renekton, a fearless warrior, for example, both seemed more beast than men- Nasus resembling a large bipedal canine, while Renekton took the form of an anthropomorphic crocodile." Kai'Sa stopped, changing back to her regular voice. "I had no idea what 'anthropomorphic' meant. She says words that are too big sometimes. But Nasus and Renekton are these little guys-" She pointed to some of the carvings on the staircase- a dog and a crocodile on two legs. "Azir was supposed to go through the ritual too, but the capital of Shurima exploded that day. Nobody knows what happened." Kai'Sa said as she trailed her hand through the markings on the solid gold staircase- several figures of men with animal-like qualities. "I don't think they really existed, though... It seems too much like a story book."

"Yeah, I agree. This seems more like a... What did my parents call it again? A mytho... mythology? Still, I think they might exist." Ezreal said as he sat next to her, observing the carvings. "I've seen animal people before."

"Really? How so?" Kai'sa asked.

"I read a book. By a man named Eduard Santangelo. He was from Piltover, just like me, and he explored the land of Ionia. There, he found people just like you said, but a lot less animal than human. He said they were 'humans with a slight tinge of animal in them, usually ears and tails.' I believe they were called..." Ezreal shuffled a bit with his large, brown leather backpack, getting a book out. He opened it, revealing a drawing of a woman with fox ears and nine fox tails. "Vastaya? See? They're less animal than these guys, but they still look like animals and humans together!"

"Oh... Wait, that's really cool! You have to show this to my teacher." Kai'Sa said as she skimmed over the field guide. "Maybe the Ascended are like... the grandfathers of these Vastaya! Although... going from Shurima to Ionia is a long trip. What would they be doing there?"

"Well, that's the part we don't know. I guess we'd have to explore both the ruins of that former capital as well as take a trip to Ionia to find out, huh?" Ezreal beamed, excited. "That's why I wanted to come with my parents to these expeditions so bad. There are so many things we don't know about the world... It's just such a cool place that goes unexplored!"

"That would be really cool! But, Ionia is so far away... It doesn't seem safe going there." Kai'Sa commented.

"You can't make discoveries without being a little bit reckless, you know? That's what my parents taught me." Ezreal said, looking down the big stairway, filled with pressure plates and with a big hole in the middle. "Speaking of them... I think we need to go on." Ezreal said, his smile vanishing from his face. "Be careful. I'll step exactly where it's safe, okay? Just follow me."

Ezreal walked down the stairs. They looed slightly changed from when he first walked them down, some of the pressure plates having been triggered. His parents or Kassadin may have had a little more trouble than he did. It looks like most traps are already tiggered, or out of ammo. The descent is relatively smooth.

He continued to walk, stopping on each golden step while Kai'Sa was always a step behind. The gold bricks that make up the stairs were heavily weathered, heavily scratched and some even bent. It looked like it was used a lot before it was sealed, which implied that the traps are fairly recent. "Maybe this Ne'Zuk guy only put these traps in to protect his treasure." Ezreal comments as they walk down. "These stairs look like they've been walked on a lot, and since my father only recently unsealed them..." The pressure plates themselves were not real gold, but painted like so with mastery. It was hard but not impossible to notice, especially looking at which parts of the step look more pristine.

"They were used a lot, so it doesn't make sense that they had traps." Kai'Sa finished, scratching her chin. "He was dead and this is his tomb. It seems really greedy to seal away your treasures with your body..."

"Well, I'm just thinking..." Ezreal said as he jumped over a step full of active pressure plates. "All the Ascended you mentioned are quite big and animal-like, right? But I've reached the actual corpse, and... It looks just like a regular guy. The gauntlet is a bit big and heavy for me, but it was made for an adult. So I'm thinking... Maybe instead of making their bodies big, they just transfer their mind to a new one?"

"Hmm... That's interesting... My teacher said nobody knows what happens to the bodies." She jumped over that same step gracefully, landing side by side with him. "We could go exploring again to figure it out!."

"Sure! After that, we can go to Ionia." Ezreal chuckles. "We can even bring your dad and my parents!"

"I don't think my dad would agree, but fine." Kai'Sa said as she looked around, but Ezreal could swear he saw a small smile on her lips before her head turned. They stop right before the hole that was opened from one of the pressure plates. "What now? We can't step around it."

"Hmmm." Ezreal looked to his heavy hand hanging from his shoulder. "The gauntlet... I think it gave me a weird power. I was running away and the hole was here, but I was able to teleport." He tried raising it, to no avail.

"That's seems risky. If it's a one-time thing, you'd just fall down..." Kai'Sa said.

"That's true..." He said, eyeing a rope dangling from the ceiling. "That rope..." He tries to reach it, but to no avail. "It's too high up. This must be from a grappling hook..." He tried not to get too excited... His parents had those, after all. He released a sigh that was stuck deep inside of his lungs, a lot more relieved with the possiblity that they are, indeed, alive. No, not a possiblity. This was confirmation, of course.

There had to be more villages around this place, right? They had to be on one of them, of course. He doesn't even say any of his reasoning to Kai'Sa. There's no need, right? It's so obvious that she probably noticed it too, and probably didn't mention it to be polite. That's it, right? She's also smart for her age, after all. It would be patronizing to even mention such an obvious thing to her.

"I think I do have some of my parents tools..." He said, shuffling with his backpack once more. He pulled out a grappling hook, a spare one his parents left with him. "See this? A bit ancient compared to current Piltovan tech, but it must be better than most of the rest of the world have. Trusty and irreplaceable."

"Oh, I know what grappling hooks are!" Kai'Sa said. "We have some vendors from far away that come to our village! I have a bunch of them. They're really useful to hunt for food!"

"I... see." Ezreal blurted out as he looks up again. This rope could belong to Kassadin instead of his parents... But if Kai'Sa already showed some acrobatic skill coming down the trapdoor, maybe Kassadin can jump over a hole like this, no problem? No, that seemed unlikely. That rope is from Kassadin's own grappling hook. "W-Well, haha. Let's get moving. It's pretty cold, we might get sick if we lounge too much." He quickly fired his grappling hook, which made a loud sound as the gunpowder inside was used to shoot out the hook. The brown hemp rope wrapped around a stalactite in the ceiling, the dark blue steel hook roughly grabbing onto the sandstone. He tugged on the grappling hook gun. "It feels solid. We can go one at a time."

"Okay. I can go first." Kai'Sa suggested. Ezreal handed her the handle, as she tugged on it a few times again. She ran back a few steps to gain some momentum and then ran foward, soaring above the hole as she dropped with ease on the other side. She swinged the grappling hook back to him.

"Alright, my turn." Ezreal said as he mimicked Kai'Sa's movements, running back before jumping. Although way less gracefully, he also flied above the hole. He pressed the latch on the handle of the grappling hook, releasing the rope from the mouth of the gun as he landed clumsily on the other side. "Phew, hahaha. I need more training for that."

He quickly found a spare rope on his backpack, attaching it onto the now ropeless gun. "Gotta make sure we can go back. Alright, let's move on."

They descended the remaining steps much like the ones before. They eventually reached the entrance to a narrow rocky hallway, barely big enough for one person and a half. The material is the same as the other walls of the place- yellowish white smooth sandstone rocks piled on top of each other. No wonder the best trap for a place like this is make it crash down- not many explosives are needed to do it. Something echoes through the hallway, a sharp rhythmic sound of metal hitting stone with force. Some deep grunts were also heard, like someone hard at work.

"Wait. Can you hear that?" Kai'Sa said, hiding away before the hallway begins. "That sounds like my father. He might be nearby."

"Hmm, he's going to be upset that we disobeyed him, huh?" Ezreal said as he peeked inside the hallway, but he can't see much. "I think that the rocks that fell blocked the entrance to that golden room."

More importantly, the entrance to that room was the place where he last saw his parents. He swallowed dryly. He was so close to seeing them again. He legs started to shake once more, but he stops himself. He just needed to wait until-

Just as he was pondering what to do, a ray of golden light suddenly hits his eyes. The sound of rocks falling down reached his ear. "He opened the way! Follow me!" He ran to the hallway, jumping over the pressure plates that he sees.

"W-Wait, too fast!" Kai'Sa said from behind him, but she is ignored. He kept running quickly, dashing below a wire trap that was suspended right in the middle of the hallway. The golden glow got brighter and brighter, blinding him to his surroundings. He was getting close. He was gonna find them, his parents. They're safe-

"Ouch-" He bumped into a hard wall of muscle. He looked up, seeing Kassadin, still shirtless. He was covered in sweat and grime, with a big pickaxe in his hand.

"Boy? What are you doing here?" Kassadin said. Ezreal eyes start adjusting to the light, seeing how only the top part of the wall of rocks was excavated, the bottom still there. He looked below the rocks, until he saw...

Red. Something red, dried. Below the rocks.

"You should really go back, boy. You shouldn't see this-"

"S-See what? What do you mean?" Ezreal said, getting up.

"Look, it's not a pretty sight for someone as young as you. Just-" Kassadin said, opening his arms to stop him from approaching. But Ezreal was faster. He quickly dashed below Kassadin's arms, going towards the wall.

 

The red is everywhere. A dried, red liquid. It wasn't here before.

He saw strands of golden hair next to the wall.

"No. No, please... No, nono..." He said, starting to tear up. He started trying to dig out the wall with his hands, throwing the rocks behind him. "P-Please, no-"

"Wait, boy! Don't start digging from the bottom. It's not stable-" Kassadin tried to warn him, but just the few rocks that Ezreal picked out were enough to send the rest of the wall crumbling, collapsing on itself. Kassadin tried to swoop him before he gets crushed himself, but one of the sharp rocks goes for Ezreal's cheek, cutting it deeply. The kid screams out in pain, but what he sees next is even more painful.

The rocks spread out through the hallway, letting Ezreal see precisely what was underneath them-

"No, please- M-Mom... D-Dad..." Ezreal cried out as he looked at the mess, struggling against Kassadin.

A ray of gold illuminated the horrible view, casting it in an almost mocking, majestic glow.

There were bits.

White pieces of solid bone.

Red and pink blobs of flesh.

Familiar fabric, ripped and torn also layed around.

His eyes keep scanning the scene, and he sees a face.

A familiar face.

The back half of the head was smashed by a rock, while the front part faced him.

The eyes were popped out of their sockets. The teeth had catapulted out of the mouth. The tongue was folded in on itself as an expression of sheer pain was etched in that familiar face.

The gold hair made it unmistakable.

"M-Mom?"

He secreamed.

He screamed as hard as he could.

He screamed until his throat bled and he was out of air.

He tried to free himself, but try as he might, he couldn't get closer to them. He could not hear anything except from his own screams, as he was carried away from the view.

.

.

.

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"Is he going to be okay?" Kai'Sa asked, looking up at her father.

"He should be." Kassadin replied as he look at the unconscious boy who was once more on his daughter's bed. He had a white cloth wrapped around his face, with a red spot tainting it. "That sharp rock lodged itself in his cheek pretty deeply, I had to fish it out. It's going to leave a scar. I'm pretty sure the boy screamed his throat coarse as well, but both of these injuries will heal."

"That's... not what I mean." Kai'Sa replied. "Didn't you say that he saw, uhm..."

"Yeah, that was an unpleasant view. I'm glad you didn't need to see it." Kassadin sighed. "He should be fine, but I'm more worried what we should do now that his parents are gone. He probably has an extended family, but we have no way of reaching them. I don't know how I'm going to send him back to Piltover."

"Send him back? That's a terrible idea!" Kai'Sa crossed her arms as she looks up disapprovingly at her father. "He's all on his own, like, uhm... a single sailor lost at sea! What if he has no one else?"

"You're right. So, what do you suggest we can do?"

"Maybe... We should let him stay here? As long as he needs. We could try to help him get over this."

"Alright, fine. But he will need to pull his own weight around here eventually." He sighed as he walked away, grumbling something about 'another mouth to feed.'

Kai'Sa stood there, looking at the boy laying down. His breathing seemed troubled as he sleeps, his expression etched with pain.

"Don't worry, Ezreal." She said, looking down at him. "I'll help you get over this."

Notes:

In this chapter: Two nerds theorizing about cool stuff! I know arcane showed that there were Vastaya in Piltover, but Ez's voicelines impy he never saw a vastaya before, so I'm going off that. I don't really believe the Vastaya and Ascended are actually connected in LoL lore, but I do think it would be a valid theory in their universe. Sorry for the long wait for the chapter too, by the way!

Chapter 4: Memory

My Musings
By Kai'Sa of the Sai Village

Chapter 1271: Updates on the Strange Visitor

It seems like the boy from Piltover is going to stay for a longer time than I thought.

I... feel really bad for him. I also lost my mom, so I know how bad it feels. I want to do something to help him.

We were talking about the Ascended before, and he seems to enjoy exploring. So I had the idea to drag him to an ancient tomb from the Imperial times. It's south of Killash Village.

He didn't seem interested in doing anything, but I managed to convince him to accompany me.

I hope the food I'll take from the pantry will be enough...

I'll write about what we found on Chapter 1272. Stay tuned!

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Kai'Sa briskly ran through the coarse golden sand of the desert, leaving deep footprints. She wore her usual bright, light reflecting yellowish white linen garbs. They were long and protected her limbs from the sun, but they were still loose enough the make sure her body was getting a steady supply of cooling air. The clothes flowed with the wind and her movements much like her hair. She had a big brown leather pouch slung over her shoulder.

"Come on! We're almost there." She called out to the person behind her. "We can take a break once we're there."

"A-Alright, alright... I'm going... Phew..." Ezreal answered, breathless. He was wearing some of his Piltovan clothes, brown leather jacket, cotton white shirt with black leather pants. While it may be optimal to city travel, it proved to be awful to be on feet at the desert. His clothes were dripping wet with sweat, while the coarse sand was fairly irritating, getting into his brown sneakers.

They saw a structure in the distance. A decrepit building, made of yellowed sandstone. The stone itself was carved onto those big, blocky squares about half the size of a person, piled on top of each other. Nothing like modern, reliable bricks and it shows - Some of those square stones of the walls that simply fell down with time, blocks randomly scattered along the sand.

They passed through the large arching doorway, and found themselves inside. Ezreal coughed- The interior was hard to breath in. The floor was also made of those same sandstone blocks, but most of it was covered in sand from the outside. It was slightly dim, but some light came from a few gaps and the part of the wall that fell down. Kai'Sa and Ezreal sat down on one of the blocks that was clean of sand.

"That was... a rough run." Ezreal said as he started taking off his sweaty jacket, panting. "I..." He started to speak as he looked at her, but interrupted himself as he looked away. Running through the desert was a good distraction, but now that same sad look on his face he had on the house came back. He looked like he had a lot to say, but just didn't have the words.

"Yes, but it was worth it. There's so many mysteries to explore here." Kai'Sa started.. "I feel like we can learn a lot more about history of the Ascended here. And even some treasure, too!" She spoke as she glanced at his gauntlet.

He didn't reply, looking down when she finished talking. He opened his water canteen and took a drink, but his eyes remained downcast, staring at the ground below.

"So, uhm... What about your gauntlet? Is it comfortable now?" Kai'Sa said, speaking up once more to try to fill the silence. It's better to keep him out of his own head. "Your right arm seems to be moving just fine now."

"Yeah, it feels lighter, but it's still stuck." Ezreal replied as he waved it around. "I still don't know how to use it. I haven't been able to teleport since that one time." His face falls once again. The only time he was able to use the gauntlets ability was the day he was running from the collapsing dungeon, where his parents stayed behind. His expression then changed, his brow furrowed and his teeth grinded. "Really, what's even the use for this thing? It doesn't do anything. It wasn't worth it."

Kai'sa watched as his face fell once more, this time sporting a pondering look.

"Why did I want it so bad, then?" Ezreal murmured. He remembered the pull he felt from the gauntlet. When he first stepped into that tomb, he immediately was drawn to the gauntlet without even seeing it. It was enough to almost hypnotize him, making him forget that his parents were even there. He just beelined to it during that day.

"The magic called to you." Kai'Sa replied. "It might seem like a story book, but maybe it thought you were 'worthy'? One of the few people that could use it."

"Tsk. Yeah, right." Ezreal said, annoyed. "And the way I showed I was so worthy was by ruining everything. And then I just left without looking back." His hands close, his nails digging into his skin. His teeth grind once more.

"Don't blame yourself." Kai'Sa started, reaching out one hand towards him. "It was what your parents wanted-"

"I don't care what they wanted!" Ezreal said, his tone of voice rising. He punched the ground with his gauntlet as Kai'Sa quickly retracted her hand and took a step back. "I wanted to have saved them. To go back and help them somehow. I could teleport, I could do something, anything." Ezreal looked back at Kai'sa with an accusatory glance. "Why did you even bring me back to another one of these death traps?"

"I-I just, uhm..." Kai'Sa stuttered. She quickly rose up to her feet, taking a few steps back. This wasn't going the way she thought it would. "W-We were talking, uhm, and you seemed interested in history. And also you seemed to like exploring, I just thought-"

"You just thought what, exactly?" Ezreal said, raising his tone of voice as he gets up as well. "That I'd enjoy going through this again? To being in a place that constantly reminds of what happened? What's your problem?" He says as he starts walking towards her.

"I-I'm sorry, Ezreal... I j-just wanted to help." Kai'sa said as she steps back too, her back hitting the cold rock behind her. "I thought you'd like it..."

"Well, I don't!" Ezreal screamed out. "After what happened? Of course I wouldn't like being in one of these places again! And why would I even? What did I get last time? This stupid gauntlet that I can't even use!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Kai'Sa repeated herself, her eyes getting watery. "W-We could go back if you want to-"

"No! We've come so far, we might as well explore! Maybe I-" His voice cracked as Kai'Sa saw tears well up in his eyes as well. "Maybe I'll fuck up again and kill you too! Just like I did to my mom!" Ezreal said, as he remembered the mangled face of his mother, contorted in a expression of pain. "I-I saw her! I saw her... face..." His voice dropped, his anger subsiding. His legs lost strength as he fell on his knees on the ground. "M-Mom... I saw her..." He put his hands on his face as he started sobbing uncontrollably.

Kai'Sa stood there for a moment, shocked at his sudden outburst and subsequent crying. She slowly approached him, putting a hand on his back as he weeped.

"I-It's okay. It wasn't your fault, Ezreal." She said softly. Her own building tears got ignored as she stood there, trying to awkwardly comfort him.

...

He cleaned his face with his sleeves as he sniffled. His tears and snot wetted the sand below him as he slowly got up again.

"I'm sorry." He started. "I'm glad that you're trying to cheer me up. I just... I don't know. It's just so... frustrating.

"D-Don't worry. It's fine." Kai'Sa replied. "If it makes you too sad, we don't need to be here. We can go back if you want."

"No..." Ezreal sighed. "I... don't really hate exploring. I dreamed about it all my life. It's just that... The danger. I didn't take it seriously. I thought I would always be okay." He said as his left hand reached his cheek, touching the bandage around the injury he got that day. He winced as he touched it, remembering the pain of the sharp rock lodged inside of his maw.

"If you're sure, we can keep going." Kai'sa replied as she gathered the supplies on the ground. "But if you want to leave, tell me, okay?"

"Okay." Ezreal said. He took a long breath followed by an even longer sigh, before putting on his backpack moving towards the doorway deeper into the temple.

As they both marched forward, they reach an opening- A much larger chamber with a very high ceiling. The first thing that came into view was a beautiful golden statue, standing proud in the wall opposite of the entrance.

The statue depicted a gorgeous woman. Her only color was gold, but it was so intricately crafted that every detail popped, even while monochrome. She had deep, piercing eyes, a mischievous smirk and a long, flowing mane of hair. She had inhumanly pointy ears, held a detailed quarterstaff with one hand and also wore a dress that also seemed to be flowing majestically in the wind.

They also saw a way smaller monument in the center of the room- It wasn't nearly as detailed as the woman. In fact, it was a featureless figure unceremoniously standing up. The only thing interesting about this statue was the fact it had 4 arms, each one pointing at 4 different directions- One at the entrance, one at the statue, and the other two at the sides of the room. The arms themselves weren't even lined up properly. It wasn't made of gold, but instead had a greenish-blue tint of oxidized copper.

"That woman..." Kai'sa murmured. "She seems important, but I've never seen anyone like her in any Shuriman history books. I wonder who she is..."

"At least she got a nice statue." Ezreal said. "They didn't even carve a hair or clothes for that poor guy in the middle." He then felt a small tug at his... shoe? He looked down and saw a rat nibbling on the leather of his footwear. "Whoa!" Ezreal screamed, shooing the mouse away with his feet. "How are there rats here? There's no way there's food for them." He saw the rodent enter a small hole in one of the sandstone bricks, disappearing from view.

"I think there's enough little insects and seeds around for them to eat. There are a lot of oases in Shurima." Kai'Sa replied, unbothered by the presence of the rat. "I know! How about we leave some food for them?" Kai'Sa said, already reaching into her supplies.

"Let's save that for the way out." Ezreal said, stopping her in her tracks. "We don't know how long this dungeon is. We might need it."

"Oh, alright." She said in a dejected tone, putting her bag away. They walked together to the four-armed monument in the middle. They stopped before it, Ezreal looking up to investigate. Kai'Sa looked at him instead, and she noticed that his face didn't look as sullen as it did when the day began. Apparently the crying lifted a bit of weight off his chest. She smiled slightly as she kept looking at him.

"Oh, check this out." Ezreal said, snapping Kai'Sa off her trance. She looked up at the arms of the figure. "There are little symbols on the arms. And they're different for each one." Ezreal got on his tippy toes to look closer. "One of them is a lion, one of them is a cat, one of them is a frog and the other is a... clock?" He said, examining it. "3 animals and an object? I wonder what this means."

"Hmm..." Kai'Sa said, climbing on the bottom of the statue as she tried to get closer to the arms. She touched one as it started to move, pointing to a different side of the room. "Oh no! Did I break it?"

"Wait, this must be..." Ezreal said, the light filling up his eyes. "This is a puzzle! A real-life puzzle! That's sooo coool!" He looked at her. "Get down, Kai'Sa! We need to explore this room to find clues! Let's split and share our findings. I'll take the left side of the room, and you'll take the right!"

"Ah, sure..." Kai'Sa said, surprised at his excitement. She then smiled once more. It's nice to see him enjoying himself after the time he spent sulking. "I'll see what I can find."

Kai'Sa moved to the right side of the room, seeing if she could find anything notable. The room was very large, but messy. There were big sandstone blocks everywhere and the place seemed almost... unfinished? She hoped that at least the mechanism in the middle worked, or else Ezreal would be really disappointed.

She climbed over a pile of rubble, trying to scan the place for anything out of the ordinary. As she stepped on the pile, however, her feet wobbled slightly. She jumped back on to the floor as she saw the rubble slide down revealing what's underneath- what looked like... a pile of bones?

She stepped closer, examining the pure white bones. She excavated, and found what looked like an animal skull, pointed with big antlers on each of its sides.

"Is that... a deer?" She murmured. There were some deers native to the desert, specifically mule deers, but they were exceptionally rare in this part of Shurima. She herself has been accompanying the hunters in her village for a while, but she has never seen one. She tries to take get it off the pile, but the antlers seem stuck on something that looked like ribs. She searches for something on her backpack, taking out an ornate dagger, a sharp white steel blade with a rose gold hilt. She pressed it against the ribs of the animal, dislodging them enough so that the skull could pass through. She put her dagger in a brown leather sheath on her belt and carried the heavy skull with both arms. "I guess this must be it...?" She tried to look around once more, but didn't find anything else out of the ordinary.

On the left side of the room, Ezreal cautiously walked around, making sure he didn't step into any hidden traps. This room didn't seem to have any, but his instincts were in high alert. As he walked around, he didn't see anything, but a strange smell reached his nose. It was pretty heinous, somehow reminding him of the sewers of piltover combined with rotten eggs. He slowly approached the scent, and reached what looked like a wall from afar- but after getting close, it was actually another, smaller chamber made out of the same sandstone blocks of the rest of the place. He put his shirt over his face to cover up the smell. He found a small door, barely big enough for him, and entered.

The inside of this chamber was dim and dark, the smell becoming almost unbearable as he got inside the room. He heard a strange, annoying buzzing close to his ears as he got in, until he stepped on something wet. He pulled his feet back quickly, searching into his bag for a lamp. He turned it on, and couldn't believe what he saw-

Inside of a small room, inside of a closed-off temple, in the middle of a desert, there was something that looked like a... swamp? It was small and cramped, as big as a living room, and he could see no animals except for the flies that surrounded his head, buzzing annoyingly. What he stepped on was a dirty, muddy lake that smelled like actual garbage, as he saw some reeds growing around it.

There's simply no way this was a natural formation. Whoever built this, built it with magic for... some reason? He just couldn't understand why someone would make a budget swamp with no wildlife. He tries to wave his lamp around to see if he finds something interesting, until he sees something shining... in the bottom of the disgusting lake in front of him. He sighs and shoves his right arm into the lake, trying to fish for the glowing object. He grabs something and gets it out, and he sees...

A small statue, barely bigger than his hand. It was full of mud wrapped in vegetation, so he poured the clean water from his canteen on it, trying to clean it and his gauntlet at the same time. As he scrubbed the dirt from it, it seemed to depict... an animal. A bird, diving down to the ground, connecting to the base of the statue with its beak. Between the beak there was a small carving of a worm, the moment the bird collected its prey.

"Wait..." Ezreal murmured, his voice muffled by his shirt as he examined the statue. His eyes widened. "I've got it!"

He ran back out of the disgusting room, going to the monument in the middle of the temple once more. He saw Kai'Sa approach, with an animal skull in her hand. It looked like something that came out straight out of a hunter's wall.

"This is the only thing I could find." Kai'Sa said as she raised the antlered skull, showing it off to Ezreal. "It looks like a deer, but I'm not sure it's very useful..."

"It's very useful, actually." Ezreal said, brandishing the statue. "It's the last piece of the puzzle. Look at this statue. The bird is eating the worm, right?"

"Yes, I can see it. But there are no birds or worms in the arms or around here, right? At least I haven't seen any."

"No, but it's only a hint. You found a deer on the right side, and there's a lion drawn on one of the arms. So if we..." Ezreal said as he moved the arm with the lion to point to the right side of the room. "Where I went there were a bunch of flies, so..." Ezreal moved the arm with the frog to point to the left side of the room.

"I think I get it! You found those rats by the entrance, right? So the cat goes towards it!" Kai'Sa says, already moving that arm to point to the entrance of the room. "I don't understand the clock, though. There's no animal on that side of the room."

"No..." Ezreal said. "It's the statue! She seems very important, that's why there's such a detailed statue of her, right? But you said you never heard of her. So whoever made this puzzle... Already knew she was going to be lost to time."

Ezreal moved the arm with the clock to point towards the statue, as a loud click was heard. Then, the sound of gears moving echoed in the room, as the majestic golden statue slowly descended,  sinking into the ground. As they approached it cautiously, they see a stairway where the statue used to be.

"That's grim." Kai'Sa murmured. "I feel a bit bad for her now."

"At least we can learn more about her if we keep going." Ezreal said as he started descending the stairs. "The place doesn't seem to be trapped, but still, be careful."

"Alright, I'll follow your lead." Kai'Sa replied as they both started descending the stairway.

The bricks that built the walls around the stairs were different than the ones in the temple. Instead of the bright, yellowish sandstone it was dull and dark orange in color. The stairs themselves were carved right out of the stone- unlike the temple above, this stairway seemed to be built rather amateurishly. Ezreal's leg wobbled slightly as his foot reached one step in particular, which seemed cracked and uneven. In fact, the steps didn't seem to even have a standard gap between them- some were too close to each other, and others were far apart enough so that they needed to jump down instead of step.

"This doesn't feel like the temple above." Kai'Sa commented. "It's like the whole temple was built by a team, while this was just one person in a rush."

"I thought the same thing." Ezreal said as he jumped down from the last step. The only thing at the bottom of the stairway was a narrow corridor, barely big enough for him. "Also, this seems to small for an adult... Was this made by a kid?"

"That seems like too much work for one person. Maybe a bunch of children?" Kai'Sa said as she followed him into the corridor.

They felt the rough walls scrape against their clothes as they walked. Thankfully, it was a short distance until they reached a chamber- It was pretty small, about as big as the swamp room that Ezreal went in. The floors were heavily cracked and the wall in front of them was painted in some sort of mural. Between that wall was a pedestal with an idol. It was light blue, and seemed to be in the shape of some clouds with some wind currents carved in. It paired well with the mural; The paint was slightly dulled from many years, but the colors were still discernible: The mural showed that same woman from the golden statue, her hair was flowing and white, and she was wearing her flowing green robe with some golden jewelry. Her staff was definitely shuriman- all gold with some blue accents. Her skin had a nice bronze shade, and lots of featureless figures were kneeling with their arms up towards her.

"Does that ring a bell?" Ezreal asked as he turned to Kai'Sa. "You've told me that you've been studying Shuriman history. They little men seem to be praying... Is she a god?"

"I can't say I remember this." Kai'Sa said, looking down. "Maybe if we took that idol to her, she could have an idea?"

"No!" Ezreal screamed out, making Kai'Sa jump back in surprise. "I-I mean, I don't think that's safe. It seemed like a lot of work to guard this, it might be trapped. Uhm, sorry about that." He said sheepisly as he scratched his neck.

"Well, we don't need to take it right away. Traps usually have triggers, right? We can check the pedestal for those." Kai'sa suggested.

"Alright, fine." Ezreal complied. He watched as Kai'Sa approached the idol without touching it. Ezreal examined the room once more. There were no tripwires to be seen, and the pedestal seemed too thin to hold any pressure plate mechanism. They also haven't found a trap until now, but there is something weird. The cracks on the floor all seemed to be originating from the pedestal. His spine shivered slightly as he tried to rack his brains for any reason, until-

The floor started rumbling.

"I-I didn't touch it!" Kai'Sa said, trying to get away from the pedestal.

But it was too late.

Ezreal watched as the floor around the pedestal seemed to break, and Kai'Sa, the pedestal and the idol started to fall down into a big hole below. His hand reached out, uselessly, but he was too far away. 

Time seemed to stop.

He saw Kai'Sa, falling down in slow motion. She had a hand out towards him.

She looked at him for help, her face full of despair.

He remembered his mother.

He remembered his father. 

He didn't want it to happen again.

He couldn't let it happen again.

He saw a glow come from his right hand-

And he grabbed hers.

All of a sudden, he was up there, at the edge of the hole. He held Kai'Sa in his right hand with his gauntlet. He saw the pedestal fall down into... a glowing, purple vortex below.

He quickly pulled her up with all of his might. She collapsed next to him, sitting down as she panted heavily.

"I thought... I thought I was going to..." Kai'Sa said, tearing up. Her eyes were wide with fear as she hugged herself.

"Don't worry. Everything's okay. You're... you're fine now." Ezreal said, sighing with relief. He then looked at his gauntlet. He was too far away to grab her arm when the ground broke down, but all of a sudden he was right there. "Did it..." He murmured. His train of thought got interrupted by a sound- something akin to fast taps on rock... coming from the hole below. "Get back!" Ezreal said, yanking the immobile Kai'Sa back so she was behind him. They heard a gross gurgle as out of the hole jumped a creature- it was half the size of them. It had four chitinous black legs that lead to a head with glowing purple eyes and a gaping maw with sharp, pointy teeth.

The creature's disgusting legs moved it around from left to right while it studied him, ready to attack at any moment. He considered getting ready to dodge, but his eyes glanced at Kai'Sa behind him. She was now holding her dagger, but she was still completely shocked. He could understand. His legs were also shaking. This creature was horrifying.

But he couldn't allow her to get hurt.

He doesn't want anyone to get hurt again.

The creature jumped towards him, mouth gaping, ready to bite his head off. He got his arms up in a defensive position, ready to take that blow head-on. He closed his eyes.

Until...

He felt his right arm suddenly move on its own. A diagonal, clean swiping motion. He braced for an impact that never came.

He slowly opened one of his eyes, and he saw a glow. Coming out of his gauntlet, a blade of energy- Almost pure white, with a small blue tinge. It emitted a pleasant humming sound as it seemed... ethereal. He looked below, and the creature was cut in half. The purple blood coated the orange standstone below, and the creature's organs were splattered across the ground. He quickly averted his eyes.

"What was that...?" He murmured. He looked back at Kai'Sa, and she was still trembling. The blade slowly faded away from his gauntlet as his body started feeling heavier. "Hey, it's okay now. It's gone-" He started, but he heard even more of these taps coming from the hole. He tried moving his gauntlet around again, but nothing happened. No blade came out of it. He shook his head, taking Kai'Sa's hand. "Let's go. Hurry!""

"What... what were these things?" Kai'Sa said. She was still shocked, but let him guide her.

"I don't know. But it's dangerous. We should go." Ezreal said as he ran through the tight corridor hand in hand with Kai'Sa. "We should... also try to seal this entrance. To be safe."

They started leaving the chamber, as the purple glow coated the room in a new light.

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Dear Matron,

Besides his brutality and raw strength, the new General Darius is proving himself quite the intelligent asset as well. He has spent plenty of time planning and accounting for most possibilities in a way most Noxian commanders would simply try to resolve by being even 'stronger and mightier'. I believe he might have a place in the new Noxus that shall rise from the ashes of the current one.

The plans are already drawn out, the platoon is merely awaiting for the requested supplies to arrive. Accounting for travel times, we should arrive in Shuriman soil in about two months. It might be hard to control the soldiers' bloodlust, but I will make sure the required artifact arrives back at Noxus unscathed. As for that nearby village, the soldiers will be more than happy to pillage and destroy to their hearts content.

We are prepared for a possible encounter with some Shuriman resistance, however unlikely that may be. In the case of emergency or unexpected results, I will prioritize the gauntlet first, and General Darius' safety second. The remainder of the platoon is disposable.

I shall resume contact briefly.

-Lady Elise