• Published 5th Apr 2012
  • 6,496 Views, 627 Comments

The Redemption of Jericho Swain - Ghosted Note



Sequel to League of Discord. The Mane 6 are pulled into Runeterra, and must get home.

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Chapter 5: Two-bit Villain

The Redemption of Jericho Swain
Chapter 5: Two-bit Villain


Swain’s lip curled in disgust at the crumpled, sobbing heap that was now shivering at his feet, begging for mercy. As the noise began to die down, he patiently waited for his guest to regather composure, idly tracing patterns with his walking stick along the floor of the ancient and equally filthy and dank Noxian prison, only turning his attention back downward when the room was silent again. “Speak. I may show you mercy, if I deem you both sincere and informative.”

“O-okay, okay.” The two guards picked up the battered man, and roughly set him down on the wooden chair opposite of the stool that Swain had been sitting on, eliciting a strained cry as the splintering wood chafed against open wounds. His raven flitted about through the air aimlessly for a few seconds before settling on Swain’s shoulder once more. “H-he wants us to keep a-an eye on Kassadin, as always, b-but he also wants us to try to ap-apprehend the travelers with him...the ones that are supposed to be from another world.”

Swain frowned. “I’m getting bored. Start entertaining me swiftly.” Each of the guards put a hand on their swords.

“Wait, please! I know m-more!” The prisoner was in a blind panic now, searching his brain desperately for any information that could save him. “H-he also has a plan for you! He thinks you will be a problem, so he’s hired a few assassins to take you out. They’ll be meeting outside High Command later this afternoon!”

“That’s certainly interesting news. I did not expect Malzahar to be so forward about things. Very well. You’ve been extremely helpful, and I’m sure you’ll be happy to leave this place.” Swain gestured toward the guards as he pushed himself to his feet. “Drop him off with all of the other outgoing prisoners. I have an assassination attempt to attend to.”

The prisoner sighed, and stared at the floor as Swain exited. He couldn’t help but smile as he heard the guards unsheath their weapons, and drag him to his feet. With a faint whisper, he eulogized himself. “I do this for the Void.”

- - - -

Swain moved quickly for a cripple, taking a few, less guarded shortcuts that he purposefully kept maintained for situations like these, where he had to pull a time advantage from nowhere. Thus, as he made his way through the crumbling side-streets of Noxus, he allowed himself a moment to consider this newest revelation. It was not unheard of for a champion to plot the death of another champion, though it was rather unlike Malzahar to be so blunt in his efforts to promote the Void’s entrance into Valoran. Assassination was far removed from the cult-building and slithery public speeches the so-called ‘Prophet of the Void’ liked to use. Something didn’t add up, but his instinct told him that he wasn’t going to get anything else from that half-delirious prisoner. Of course, Swain wasn’t afraid of some thug with a crossbow, not when he had the power imbued by the Void into his veins so long ago. The most logical thing to do would be to apprehend the fools, and save at least one of them for an interrogation and then do some research on the matter.

The clacking of a rock bouncing along the ground told him that he’d have to be slightly late, though. Swain sighed in mock despair as he turned to face the band of thieves that had thought to inconvenience him, and then frowned in sincerity. There were a lot of them. This might take a bit longer than he’d expected.

- - - -

Twilight Sparkle was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable, the closer they came to Zaun. What foliage had survived the pollution was twisted and definitely unwelcome. They had been on the road from Piltover for two days now, and every step had seen the trees become twisted and the grass turn from various shades of brown to outright black in some places. Adding to it, all of the excess magic in the air had been giving Twilight a headache like no other. All in all, the past few days had quickly turned from a neat little adventure to a baleful chore. None of them would be unhappy to leave Zaun behind once Applejack had been retrieved. Even Ezreal and Kassadin, both of whom had already been to Zaun multiple times, couldn’t help but express discomfort and distaste at the state of the landscape around Piltover’s rival. Of course, Ezreal was more than willing to admit that almost every citizen of Piltover held at least a minor bias against Zaun for its unethical uses of magic and industry to solve the same problems Piltover chose to take the slower, more responsible route on.

“The city is full of willing accomplices to the Void,” Kassadin scoffed in response when questioned about his own dislike of the city. “Malzahar gathers like-minded fools and mental invalids to his cause there, where the greedy and the insane walk the streets in equal measure. The Void will probably destroy that city first, just for love of irony. One way or another, Malzahar will suffer for his crimes. In his madness he cannot see that the only winning move in his little game is not to play. Or maybe he does, and plays anyway. His mind could not withstand the Void, and lies shattered at the feet of his otherworldly masters.”

Fluttershy had been silent the entire time, looking distressed to the point of illness as she continued to observe the gradual, and in places not so gradual, decay of the landscape. Even the dirt seemed to have taken an unsightly blue shade. Since they had entered the area, Fluttershy’s only words had been to repeatedly question the sanity of those who would choose to live in such a place. “I don’t think I can even see the sun anymore. All I see are grey clouds of smoke. Oh, Twilight, are we almost there yet? I want to leave this place.”

“Just bear with us a little longer Fluttershy. We should arrive in Zaun sometime today.” Twilight Sparkle coughed as her lungs faltered in their attempt to process what passed for air in Zaunite lands. “Believe me, I’m pretty sure all of us are in a hurry to get this over with.”

Twilight suppressed another cough. “I’m pretty sure Singed forgot to mention this aspect of his homeland.”

It was a few more laborious hours of trudging through the eerily silent forests before Ezreal broke the silence. “We’re almost out of the woods. We should definitely keep moving, though. We don’t want to be here come nightfall. Almost everything that lives here is nocturnal, simply due to less people churning out airborne toxins at night. Even so, you don’t live in or near Zaun without being affected, and I’d rather not have to deal with an animal attack right now. If we keep up this pace, we should be at the Embassy in time to meet Applejack and get some sleep before moving on. If we’re lucky, we can catch a zeppelin to Noxus, so we don’t have to navigate the Ironspike Mountains. That alone would double the amount of time it would take to complete our trip. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for the forest’s end.”

- - - -

Swain wrinkled his nose in distaste as he used magic to draw out the blood now staining his clothing. This had taken far longer than he had wanted it to. He’d be lucky to even spot the would-be assassins at all now before they started executing whatever half-baked plan they had constructed to kill Swain, which would make dealing with them that much more annoying. The general sighed in disappointment. He had hoped to deal with this swiftly and relatively painlessly, without getting all of the annoying paperwork of the Noxian police involved, but it seemed that he would have no choice, if he wanted to make sure that security wasn’t compromised.

It was still several minutes before he arrived at the Offices of the Noxian High Command, a towering behemoth of black stone painted with red accents, which was, for practical purposes, a fortress built to house the upper echelons of Noxus’ governmental hierarchy. Shadows had begun to fall across the city-state as Swain entered the plaza in front of the building. As he suspected, he saw no signs of suspicious persons or activity...except an unusually large gathering of Noxus’ Elite Guard, a unit assigned to defend politically important areas in Noxus. Swain’s raven cooed softly, as if advising him to step carefully. Swain nodded, and silently melded into the shadows that already hugged a nearby wall. If they had somehow disguised themselves as guards, he would be ready for them.

As he inched closer, he couldn’t help but overhear one of the so-called ‘guards’ speak. “Our informant was wrong. Grand General Swain must have changed his plans. Continue searching the area for him. Don’t try to apprehend him alone if he resists. We’ll need a full squadron of guards supplemented by mage support to bring him down if he tries to escape. If he cooperates, bring him to the holding cell for questioning. High Command wants him on trial for Boram Darkwill’s murder tomorrow based on the evidence that we recovered today. Get to it.”

Swain’s blood ran cold. If evidence of how he had ascended to his position had been uncovered, this would be more than enough leverage for his rivals do render the same fate unto him, and his experience told him that the only justice he would receive would be dealt by bribed judges and tribunals, with a fair share of fabricated evidence to supplement whatever real facts they may have gathered. His best hope was to vacate Noxus until he could find whoever was responsible for this, manipulate them into taking a fall, and then frame them for framing him. The Noxian police would have blood to pay for the former Grand General’s, and Swain would be vindicated, probably with renewed support after he ‘confirmed’ to the masses that he had no hand in Darkwill’s death.

Of course, he’d not last five minutes without being adequately prepared for his temporary exile, so despite the obviousness of it being guarded, it was going to be necessary to stop by his quarters. There were a few side passages and secret tunnels that could make his journey safer, but there would likely be a sizable force guarding the entrance, but he had a plan for that problem already. Swain began to move toward the building.

Getting inside was simple enough. The guards had come to the conclusion that he was in hiding, and most of their forces were dedicated to sweeping through the city, which was a risky task by itself considering how dangerous the streets were in some places. It was likely a few guards wouldn’t be returning home tonight, and equally as likely some thug was going to be showing off his new sword to a few buddies at a bar. Of course, the few guards that had remained were all of the Elite Guard, so when Swain had accidentally made a little too much noise in opening a door that most believed to lead only to a dusty storage room, Swain had been hard pressed to silence the guard before he had made enough noise to attract attention. He would just have to hope that anyone who heard the muffled grunts of pain would pass it off as the distance sounds of Noxus’ ambience.

Swain was close now. There was only one phase remaining to his plan. One of the advantages of being a cripple was that there were certain tasks that nobody ever expected you to accomplish. He smiled as his body begin to morph and rearrange, a sick crack and a twinge of pain informing him of the two new appendages on his back. He would have laughed, but speaking was already somewhat painful and awkward in this mutated raven-like monstrosity of a body. Nobody would expect a cripple to come in through the window.

- - - -

The wolves weren’t the worst of the problems that the four had encountered since the sun had set. It hadn’t even been the savage, enormous lizards, or the strange, blue apparitions that seemed to make Kassadin and Ezreal very uncomfortable to be around. It was the forest itself that seemed the most determined to halt their passage. What had seemed relatively straightforward had taken a turn for the worse when they were forced from the path by the first animal attacks, which would have been a lot worse had Kassadin and Ezreal not been expecting such to happen. The magically tainted beasts seemed more bloodthirsty than was natural, and Fluttershy’s normal affinity for calming beasts seemed useless. When they finally stumbled out of the forest, they were tired and miserable. However, silence borne of exhaustion soon gave way to silence borne of amazement for Twilight and Fluttershy. They had reached Zaun.

“It’s...massive...” Twilight finally found it within herself to speak.

“It’s...wrong...” Fluttershy followed Twilight’s lead shortly thereafter.

The descriptions of the city hadn’t quite prepared the two for the sight in front of them. Specks of flame and magical light illuminated a sea of gray that blotted out the darker gray that was the sky. Buildings rose high into the air, and smokestacks adorned many of them as industry plodded on at a relatively leisurely pace. The streets were bustling with the collective nightlife of the city as a part Zaun rose from its slumber to revel in this monument to unbridled innovation, ambition, and greed, and another part prepared to sleep after a long day of creating some of the most advanced amalgamations of magic and science on Runeterra. Iridescent waste glimmered from poorly maintained gutters, occasionally catching flame for a few moments before dying down again. Steam rose from automatons following directives instilled by enchanters upon creation for the corporations that ran the city, providing a thin haze for the light to be diffused in, giving the entire scene a fuzzy, unreal look. There was one thing that the pair found even more unsettling, past everything. Neither of them saw any plants or greenery alive in the city.

Ezreal grimaced as his nose picked up the odors of industry, scrunching his face in distaste. “Let’s get this over with,” he commented as he led the way through the streets. “Applejack will be at the League Embassy. If I recall, there are also air filters in the building.”

- - - -

Twilight struggled in futility to breathe. The darkness had already begun to enclose her, and her vision had forsaken her in her time of need as she whimpered softly as her final act...which seemed to signal to Applejack that she might be crushing her friends with her mercilessly affectionate embrace. “Oh, sorry ‘bout that sugarcubes. Ah’m just so happy to see y’all. It ain’t been bad here, but Ah’ve been a bit bored, and lemme tell ya, the air outside smells mighty odd. Guess everypony here is already used to it, but Ah gotta spend most of my time indoors ‘cause of it. Ah already talked to the uh...secretary pon-person about y’all, and she showed me where y’all will be staying. Just follow me. Y’all can tell me about the trip on the way there.”

Twilight smiled, in significantly less distress now that she could breathe once more. “Well, I woke up at the head of where they run the League after being unconscious for a day. They said it was called the Institute of War. It was pretty amazing, to be honest. The architecture there is certainly a lot different from Ponyville or Canterlot. To be honest, it kinda reminded me of Cloudsdale, with the decorative pillars and all. The library there wasn’t quite as big as the Canterlot archives, but it was still pretty impressive. After the people there told me what was going on, Kassadin and I went to Piltover. The trip there took less than a day, but from Piltover to here took a bit longer as the terrain was a bit less hospitable, plus, Kassadin sweet-talked a few Summoners into using their magic to give us a head start on our way out. We didn’t stay in Piltover long, but it seemed pretty nice, barring an unfortunate incident with the eating habits of humans...” Twilight looked at the ground, suppressing a gag at the unpleasant memory of eating meat.

Fluttershy gave Twilight a gentle pat on the shoulder. “She didn’t realize that humans are omnivores, so the standard meals here involve consuming other animals. At least now that we know, we can know to avoid it.”

Applejack shuddered. “Ah can’t say that sits well with me, but Ah suppose there ain’t sense in looking down on somepony for their nature. We’re here, by the way. Me and the girls will be sleeping in my suite, and Ezreal and Kassadin will be in the suite beside ours. Nice ta meet you, by the way, Kassadin.” Kassadin, who along with Ezreal had been mostly silent while the friends talked to each other, gave a slight bow before heading to the indicated suite.

“Sleep well, we’ve got a big day ahead of us and we want to get an early start to leave here as soon as possible,” Ezreal commented offhandedly as he followed Kassadin.

Tired and worn out, it didn’t take long for Fluttershy and Twilight to fall asleep, with Applejack not far behind. None of them noticed the sound of a small creature skittering away from their rooms.

- - - -

If Swain wasn’t a fugitive before, he certainly was now. Pretty much the only thing working for him was that guards, even of the elite variety, were looked on as about twenty kinds of expendable due to the excess of citizens in Noxus who had military training. Of course, there wasn’t going to be any time for remorse, even if he was inclined to feel any. Swain would have to move quickly, as the two guards on the floor had made quite a bit of noise in their previous, and final, moments. Still, murder was a crime, and right now, his rivals certainly didn’t need any more evidence to condemn him with. Swain himself frowned upon needless killing, simply for the physical mess and the headache-inducing paperwork and publicity that tended to follow it more than any moral hindrance.

The first thing to attend to was funds, and Swain was glad that he had the foresight to keep currencies of every kind, just in case, and he was certainly not short on them. Being at the top of Noxus’ leading council had perks, after all. Some spare clothing, a few odds and ends for wilderness journeying, and...

Swain paused before the Nightmare’s Regalia. It seemed rather impractical to carry around the heavy pieces of metal, but he might need the Nightmare...who was inclined to agree. ‘Trust me, the payoff is more than worth it. Besides, I’d rather not be left in here to be confiscated and put in some rich snob’s treasury. Anyway, I’d-’

The door crashed into splinters as guards backed by sorcerers stormed into the room. “Grand General Jericho Swain, you are hereby placed under arrest for the murder of Grand General Boram Darkwill, members of the Noxian military, and several guards. Will you come with any dignity, General, or must we resort to violence?”

Time seemed to slow as Swain mentally cursed himself for taking too long deliberating. There were far too many to fight here, if they had mage support, and the path to the window was blocked. He couldn’t surrender, though, as that was almost certain death by execution. ‘Use me. We can win this. Just put on the collar section of the armor, and I’ll take care of the rest. Neither of us want it to end here.’

There wasn’t really a choice, and Swain moved decisively as he snatched up the oversized neck-piece of the armor and placed it on himself, bracing his shoulders against the heavy weight of the armor.

There was a flash of light, and Swain was assaulted with the sensation of raw power running through him. He felt the shape of the armor shift around to more adequately suit his form, and his right leg tingled strangely. His vision was almost fogged with intensity of the experience, and he took a step forward before realizing that he could walk unhindered. Swain laughed, and lifted his hand as the guards charged him, feeling drunk with power as magic began to swirl around him.

When Swain spoke, it was as if his voice was mixed with another, almost otherworldly voice. “Time for some fun.”

- - - -

Swain wiped the blood from his hands, and hurriedly gathered the rest of the armor and his belongings. It wouldn’t be long until reinforcements arrived, and he did not want to test the limits of his new abilities here. Shifting into his raven form, he prepared himself to glide out of the window with the goal of being out of Noxus before dawn.

- - - -

It was the next morning, and after a hearty, and completely vegetarian breakfast, the girls and their two escorts were ready to leave Noxus. The League had agreed to pay for a zeppelin to expedite their journey, and had sent one of their own guards to lead them to the shipyard.

“Sure is nice of them League folks to give us a ride,” Applejack commented idly as they walked through the streets, “And they even sent us an extra guard to keep us safe. Thought y’all always talked about the League like a group of some heartless bureaucrats.”

Ezreal, Kassadin, and even the accompanying guard snorted and chuckled in amusement, the latter of which was inclined to comment on the matter. “I mean no disrespect ma’am, but to be frank, this is pocket change for the League. They’re doing their best to say ‘we care about the happiness of our champions’ while not actually expending any real effort past what the public eye sees on them. They get free room and board, and some nice amenities, but the League could honestly care less about the problems and projects of any entity that isn’t furthering its own goals. Of course, world peace is an admirable goal, but even the most admirable of goals can be accomplished by self-centered bureaucrats sometimes. My own ability to guard you really means nothing next to having two champions in the same place, anyway. It’s just kinda symbolic handwave at the security of the matter.”

“Oh...well, Ah at least appreciate ya bein’ honest about it.” Applejack paused. “Say those fellas in the purple have been staring at us for a while now. Giving me the creeps.”

Ezreal frowned. “Come to think of it, I think they’ve been following us.”

“The perceptive capabilities of the Prodigal Explorer are as vast as the Shurima Desert.” A man in a purple hood and robe, with symbols none of them recognized stitched throughout the hemming stood before them, and several similarly dressed people were swiftly moving to surround the group. “Our master wishes to speak with you. Attendance is...mandatory.”

Fluttershy gulped loudly, and Ezreal and Kassadin took defensive stances. The guard laughed nervously. “Well, this is an awkward time to be explaining how useless I am.”

- - - -

‘You won’t save her in time’.

Celestia didn’t bother responding. She hadn’t for two days now. In the background, a faint buzzing resembling the worried pleadings of her sister struggled for her attention, but in vain. Celestia moved toward the next bookshelf in the Canterlot Archives with empty eyes.