//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Curator of the Sands // by James //------------------------------// Nasus followed the directions on the map. It lead him to a janitors closet. Honeydew must have given me the incorrect directions. The curator calmly looked down the hall to the right of him and then the left. "Hmm." He pondered. Nasus started walking left. To his regret, he found the halls getting darker and darker. What illuminated the darkness was the ray of moonlight shining from the windows. He stopped to take a look outside. How beautiful. Almost as if crafted perfectly by hand. He thought whilst looking at the moon surrounded by the perfectly arranged stars, shining with all its splendor. He continued towards the corner after another glance, only to bump into someone. Nasus, being extremely large, did not falter. The same wasn't said for the one who was now on the floor. He looked down to see a dazed alicorn with dark blue fur and an ethereal, flowing blue mane. Nasus recognized the alicorn from his recent studies of this world. "Deepest apologies. You must be Princess Luna." The lunar princess shook her head rapidly and quickly stood up, bracing her chest out proudly, eyes closed with dignity. "Intruder! I shall take thou myself! Come at-" "Princes-" "I will destroy thee!" "Didyounothearfromyoursisteraboutaguestinyourcastle." Nasus was not someone who likes to rush his speech, but it was inevitable. Princess Luna froze and opened an eye. She lowered her battle stance and coughed. "Sincerest apologies! I thought thou was an enemy! You must be Sir Nasus!" "Nasus is just fine, Princess Luna." "I see! Good to meet thee! I mean you!" "The pleasure is mine." "I heard you were eating with us tonight! Why are you not at the dining hall? This place is opposite of the side where we dine!" "I've seem to have mistook which hallway to take." "Did you not receive directions from one of our servers?" "Yes, I did. I must have read it wrong." "Mistakes happen. Then let us go, Nasus! To the dining hall!" "Of course, Princess Luna." As Nasus followed behind the lunar princess, he did not notice her embarrassed expression. Oh good job, Luna. What a perfect way to meet a new guest from a new race. Stupid, stupid, stupid! "If I may ask, you are the princess of the night, correct?" "Hm? Ah, yes!" "I see. I must say you crafted the night sky beautifully, Princess Luna." "R-really?" Not many compliment the night besides ones who were close to her, and for a complete stranger to say that was a delightful surprise to the princess. "I-I do work hard on it." Nasus knew. He knew about the spite and darkness that formed in Luna's heart. The darkness that resulted from the citizens rest throughout the night and ignorance of the sky was all known to him. With so much work put into it, Nasus could tell why anger was formed and why it began to affect her state of mind. He knew someone else who experienced a similar change in their own mental state. Yet unlike Luna, he knows that there is no cure for that one. The emotion consumed everything. What's left is only a shadow of whom he once knew. "Nasus?" Nasus snapped out of thought. Luna was looking up at him with concern written on her face. "Sorry, I was daydreaming. Speaking of daydreaming, does the princess of the night also enter daydreams?" Delighted about Nasus's interest of the princess, she forgot Nasus's episode and spoke excitedly. "I can actually! It is more difficult with how the dreamer is actually in what you would call a light sleep..." The conversation continued all the way to the dining hall, Nasus listening intently with Luna talking happily. Princess Celestia, Twilight, and Spike were seated around the long table in the middle of the dining hall. Celestia was seated at the long end, while Twilight and Spike were seated to the right side of her. A nervous Honeydew was waiting near the door of the kitchen. "Honeydew dear." Princess Celestia said. "Where is Nasus?" "O-ohhh you know! Heh heh!" Princess Celestia pondered. Then she spoke up. "Oh, I sure do wish I had a map to the dining hall!" "I have it right here, Princess!" Honeydew happily waved out a map to the dining hall. She froze in fear and dropped the map. Princess Celestia pointed a mischievous smile towards Honeydew. Honeydew sighed. "Please forgive me, your highness! I'm so sorry!" Princess Celestia smiled warmly and stood up. "It's quite alright dear, but I should go and look for him." Before Princess Celestia could move away from her seat, the large doors opened. The curator and lunar princess walked in, Luna happily chatting away. "-And that's why I will never go into Tia's daydream every again! I would never like swimming in a pool of ice cream!" Princess Celestia's eyes widened and spoke in a stern voice with a hint of pink on her cheeks. "You seem very into the conversation with our guest, don't you sister?" Luna froze and slowly turned her head towards her sister. She smiled sheepishly. "Heh heh. Oops." "Take a seat Nasus, Luna." Nasus and Luna, both smiling at the embarrassment of Celestia, took a seat to the left of the sun princess. "Whoa he's so big, Twilight!" Spike said. "Shh!" "A-ah great everyone's here. Let's bring out the food!" Honeydew rang the bell near the kitchen doors. In an instant, waiters bursted out through the doors, carrying plates of food covered with a silver cloche. While everyone was being served, Celestia spoke up. "So Nasus, you must tell us about your people. I'm sure we all are very curious." Everyone nodded, especially Twilight who took out a notepad and a pencil, ready to jot down notes. Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh brother." Nasus had already planned beforehand what to exactly say. "My people do not all resemble me. We have many different species and groups. Species such as the yordles and people of different factions like the Ionians, Demacians, and Noxians. Unfortunately, we had many collateral-damaging conflicts in the past, especially the conflicts between the Demacians and the Noxians. Our homeland of Runeterra was being destroyed, so the highest ranking magicians formed the League of Legends. The League of Legends allowed us to resolve our conflicts in a controlled and safe way. Champions are chosen to fight and represent their faction on the Fields of Justice." "Awesomeeeeee!" Spike shouted with a mouthful of gems. "Shhhhhh!" Twilight said. "Whoever wins these fights in the League get the say in the outcome of the conflict. Although there are still some fighting outside the League, it has been minimized the damage to Runeterra greatly. Not only was it also a more civilized way to settle conflicts with no death existing in matches, it also provided a very entertaining sport to the people. I myself am a champion. I fight for no faction but the people. I was summoned here from my home world by very powerful magic users to help fight in the League." Everyone was stunned. After a moment of silence, Celestia spoke up. "It seems very odd that I do not know of something this large happening in Equestria..." Nasus nodded. "Please forgive me. I did not tell the whole truth of the story." Celestia nodded with a focused expression. "How did you get here, exactly?" "This is not my world. It seems I may have been transported here while I was in a match. Most likely a problem with the summoning magic in the fields that teleported me here." "Well, at least most of your story was true." "I deeply apologize for deceiving you all. I feared it would cause problems if I told you everything at once." "Nonsense, Nasus." Luna said. "We ponies love and tolerate all who approach us as gently as you did." "That is right." Celestia said. "We will attempt to bring you back to your homeworld. Though it's not easy for magic to be powerful enough to send you to another world." "Mages in my world were very skilled and knowledgeable. Their summoning skills would be capable of transporting individuals far across the land, even extending to other worlds." Celestia nodded. "It will be difficult but we will try to help you." Nasus stood up and bowed his head. "I can not thank you enough. I do wonder what is happening back in my home world though..." Minutes after Nasus's transportation. "Explain exactly what happened." A woman in purple robes and a gold belt and necklace with red gems paced back and forth. A younger man with the same purple robes but only bright gold and blue accents indicating his rank stood before her. "I put way too much power into the summoning! I threw him very far, I'm sorry!" "You are supposed to be a top tier summoner! How can you let an accident like that happen?!" The woman scolded. "I-I-" "Save it! We need to get him back. Do you at least remember how much force you put into the summoning spell?" "I-I do actually!" "Get me Councilor Kiersta Mandrake. Now!" "Yes High Councilor Vessaria Kolminye!" The man ran out of the room. "I sure do hope you're doing okay, Shuriman." Vessaria sighed.