//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Cut Off // Story: Bridging the Rift // by sincarnation //------------------------------// Equestria 3:15am, 2nd of Maruk, 6 Months after the return of Artemis – Cereus Valley, Lupinia Diana had never particularly liked the summoning process, it gave her the same sense of vertigo she got from flying. This summoning in particular had left her very sick and very angry, and she was going to make sure someone was going to answer for it. As she began to rub her throbbing head, she immediately noticed something was wrong. She had a horn, and she didn’t have hands. She had hooves, she had been transformed into a unicorn. Oddly her armor seemed to fit her perfectly fine, and luckily nothing had happened to her blade. To her own surprise she was strangely calm about the sudden change, but that didn’t last long as her fear and anger overwhelmed her. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS HENRY?” shouted Diana mentally as she fought to not succumb to her nausea. “JEVITZ THIS HAD BETTER NOT BE A JOKE!” “Henry?" "Jevitz?" "Anyone?" "Hello?" Though to her surprise she didn’t get a response, in fact she couldn’t feel any connection to any summoner. The next thing she noticed was that she hadn’t heard the announcer welcome them to the Summoner’s Rift. She gingerly opened her eyes to see she wasn’t near a “base” of sorts, she appeared to be in a jungle but not one she was used to. She didn’t see any of her “teammates” either and she had none of the normal senses that came with participating in a match. “Where am I?” As she looked around, the area seemed less and less suitable for combat between champions. She was quickly becoming unsettled by the lack of familiarity, for even the plants were similar to ones she had seen before but not quite the same. It was then that the realization struck her. “Those fools transformed and sent me to the wrong place. This isn't the first time we were split up during the trial runs, but normally we stay connected to the summoner. This body transformation is new though, I wonder what happened to everyone else.” While it was irritating that she had been the one not to make it, Diana wasn’t really worried. She would just use her connection with the moon to figure out where she was and then travel to the nearest city. As she reached out to the moon for strength, she was surprised to be walled off. The moon had turned away her call for strength, more than that it seemed to be actively distancing itself from her. “What?” What’s going on? Have I done something wrong? Or is it the new body?” Diana couldn’t help but begin to panic, she couldn’t understand why the moon would reject and abandon her now of all times. She had been dutifully gathering followers whenever she could, and not a night went by without the moon receiving a prayer from her. She concluded that it had to be a test of some sort, and of course all she had to do was prove her devotion to be accepted again. She resolved to find her way back to the Lunari Temple on her own, but as she was deciding what direction to head towards first, a bright silver glint in the distance caught her eye. She took up her blade and cut through the brush, hoping the glint was coming from someone or something that could help her. When she finally cut her way through the vine, she discovered the source of the light. She found herself in a clearing before a massive statue of a winged unicorn in front of the moon, and in front of the statue seemed to be an altar of some sort. The statue seemed to have been built so that the moonlight reflected off of it towards a spot directly on top of the altar which further refract the light all around the grove. Diana was awed and confused at the sight before her. Everything about the area was beautifully illuminated by the moon, and she noticed there were even Cereus plants surrounding the area even if they weren’t in bloom. She appreciated the effort that went into making a proper shrine to the moon, but she knew of every moon worshipping group in Valoran. None of them depicted the moon as a winged unicorn, and even fewer of them had access to the rare Cereus plants growing around the grove. “Maybe this is part of my test.” On the altar she found numerous dried long dead Cereus flowers and an open book she presumed to be their sacred scripture until she saw many of the pages from the beginning and end were torn or scratched out. “The Tale of Two Sisters and the Tragedy of the Mare in the Moon?" She was certain this was no coincidence. The moon had led her here, and it wanted her to read this. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew it to be true. Desperate and determined to regain her lost favor, Diana easily and eagerly lost herself in the story. It was far from the first time she had read by moon light, and she couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful night. Valoran 5:45am, 3rd of December, Valoran– Institute of War, Dungeon Basement Jevitz awoke to the sound of the heavy dungeon door closing, a deafening clap of thunder signaling the approach of his grim future. He had spent the night trying to figure out a solution or an escape, but the only possible one was for him to fight when/if they took the cuffs off of him. Fighting the three high summoners and whatever champions or guards they had was suicide, and they weren’t foolish enough to not have a dimensional lock to prevent anything from teleporting in or out. He patiently waited expecting to hear footsteps from the heavily armored guards, but strangely he heard nothing. He looked up expecting to see a heavily armored guard, but to his surprise there was a stunning and familiar woman walking towards his cell. She glided through the darkness with the grace of a queen and the silence of a skilled assassin, her piercing eyes never left him for a second. Her dark hair flowed like rivers of ink, and she wore an equally dark sleek dress with a split leaving just enough for the imagination. She had the body of a well-trained soldier and the curves of a famous courtesan, and her caramel colored skin and amber eyes told him she was of Noxian descent. Her appearance unnerved him, and it wasn’t just her presence it was something about her that seemed wrong. He recognized her as the woman he met at the bar, but it was more than that. There was a faint but constant sense of familiarity eating at him, she even had a bubbly smile that he swore he had seen before, just not on her. “How are you doing Jevitz?” smiled the young woman her voice echoing throughout the dungeon. Jevitz had been prepared to explode and spew forth words so vitriolic that Singed could've used them in his poisons, but her completely genuine greeting had left him dumbstruck. “Does she realize that she is the entire reason I’m in here? That the blood of 11, soon to be 12, people was on her hands? She has the nerve to come here and act friendly?” thought Jevitz as he inhaled preparing to go off. “Don’t waste your breath,” she cooed as her smile became sympathetic. “I wouldn’t hear a thing anyway, I’m here because I thought it would be cruel to leave you to die knowing nothing.” Those words completely took the air out of him. Jevitz really wanted to lay into her, but he didn’t want to ruin his chance to learn what was going on or even get set free. “Don’t get your hopes up either. I’m not here to set you free nor give you any important information; I just thought you would feel better if you knew you were dying for the good of Valoran.” “What?” roared Jevitz silently as he heard the dungeon door creak open. “That’s my cue,” smiled the woman as she turned to leave. “Hope you feel better knowing it was nothing personal, you just got put in charge of the wrong thing at the wrong time.” “That’s bullcrap! Don’t you dare leave!" “Good bye,” whispered the woman before she just vanished leaving Jevitz confused. “What the hell? I was set up for this? Of course I couldn’t tell anyone if I tried and either way no one would believe me,” thought Jevitz dejectedly as two guards approached his cell. They were the type of guards he feared they would send, the type that were way too athletic for him to try to escape from. The more he thought about it, they would be pretty terrible guards if they were as out of shape as he was. “Though there are only two of them,” he thought as they pulled him out the small room. "I might be able get the jump on them and run once we get out." Before he could further contemplate running they had already connected another chain to his cuffs, and they had begun pulling him towards the stairs. “So much for that plan." It was early morning, but the halls of the Institute of War were never completely empty. There were always champions and summoners busily going about their business, and this morning was no different. Right as they went around the corner of the door he spotted Lux giving him a confused look, though it quickly passed and she gave him her usual friendly smile and wave. Though he tried to wave back, the guards immediately pulled on his cuffs. “Keep your arms and hands down prisoner,” growled the guard leading him. “No sudden movements either,” added the one behind him. Jevitz nodded in acceptance of their rules, there was no reason to start anything yet. So he gave Lux the best smile he could, but give his current situation he was certain it looked pitiful. She spared him sad smile in understanding before she went to continue the rest of her morning. It was a strange experience, to be paraded around like a criminal before whatever champions were awake and out that morning. Jevitz wasn’t sure how he expected to be viewed by the people around him, he got looks ranging from apathy to sympathy from most champions and summoners he came across. As they passed by the meditation garden, he saw a strange sight. Just ahead was Irelia, Captain of the Ionian Guard, and she seemed to be shaking in the arms of Lee Sin. As he approached he noticed her blades were moving erratically, pointing at everything that moved even the slightest bit. It wasn’t until the blades pointed at him, that he looked at Irelia enough to realize she was crying. The realization had struck him as odd, for Irelia was usually very disciplined when it came to controlling her emotions. As he questioned what could possibly make her cry, she caught a glimpse of him staring. Her eyes went some distress to surprise to rage immediately, and it was then that he figured out why she would be crying. A few moments too late as she was suddenly gone in a blur and before anyone knew it there was a blade at the throat of each guard, and she was holding Jevitz by the collar. “YOU!” growled Irelia through her tears. “IT WAS YOUR FAULT! IT’S YOUR FAULT THEY ARE GONE!” Jevitz wanted to hit himself for not remembering that at least two of the champions lost were close friends of hers, and his heart plummeted at the thought. Kolminye had been right as much as he hated to admit it. While he recognized that the champions were lost, he hadn't considered how their loved ones would react. As she raised him higher she was enveloped in a purple light, and luckily for him it seemed to be preventing her from moving. As he looked around he saw the Fallen Angel, Morgana striding over casually with the same judging eyes as Irelia. “Control yourself Captain Lito. You aren’t the only one to have lost companions in the accident, and injuring him will only hinder his search. Why don’t you try focusing on what you can to help bring them back, Jayce has locked himself in his lab working nonstop on a way to pull them from the Aether since he heard the news.” “Do not presume to lecture me on my actions Fallen Angel, you could never understand what we’ve lost,” spat Irelia as the purple glow faded away and she considered laying into the man in her grip. Before she could come to a decision she felt the strong hand of Lee Sin on her shoulder. She sighed as she let Jevitz drop and her blades retreated to their normal floating position behind her. “I imagined an Ionian friend of the Exile wouldn’t be quite as judgmental of someone they didn’t know anything about. You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, I have known more loss than you ever could in your lifetime.” While Irelia was too stunned trying to figure out the correct response, the guards recovered from the shock of having their lives flash before their eyes. As they moved to leave, Morgana halted them to examine Jevitz. Jevitz felt incredibly uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze of Morgana. She wasn’t saying anything, she just stood there staring into his soul with her piercing gaze. Which was probably what scared him most, it was no secret that Morgana could rip the souls out of creatures on and off the rift. It wouldn't have surprised him if his truly was staring into this soul, but after what felt like an eternity her eyes suddenly widened in surprise and understanding. “You feel awful about what happened, but you feel like you were set up?” This time it was Jevitz’s eyes that lit up and widened in surprise as he nodded furiously. “How?” mouthed Jevitz hoping she would understand. “One of the many things few outsiders know about my people is that Seraphim are empathic,” explained Morgana making sure to be loud enough for Irelia to hear. “My sister and I feel the emotions of everyone around us as our own, and if we didn’t distance ourselves from you humans physically and emotionally we wouldn’t be able to distinguish ourselves from the personalities and feelings of everyone around us. So right now I feel the anguish of Jayce as he toils away in his lab, the guilt of Lux as she sneaks into the library, the frustration and worry of Captain Lito as she listens to me, and even your feelings of grief and betrayal.” She stopped for a moment to shoot Irelia a withering glare before turning back to Jevitz. “Your feelings are genuine, not necessarily correct, so take this advice from someone who has been pulled through the Aether, avoid the darkness. The void is a dangerous place with things not meant for the minds of mortals, and be careful of what world you touch. You could accidentally cause profound changes or be pulled in against your will.” As much as Jevitz appreciated the advice, he was still confused. Morgana never openly associated with any champions or summoners; hell as far as he knew it was a stretch to say she liked anyone. She always seemed to distance herself from everyone, though he understood why now. It just didn’t make sense to him why she would help him. “Why?” mouthed Jevitz. “As I said before, Captain Lito wasn’t the only one to lose more than one friend in that accident,” explained Morgana as she shot another glare towards Irelia. “I know it’s hard to believe, but there are people who don’t immediately judge others based purely off of appearances and gossip. They too were betrayed by their people, labeled, and scorned for fighting for what they believed in. I just want them to return safely." The only one in the area not shocked by her revelation was Lee Sin who said nothing during the silence. Jevitz watched as the shocked expression on Irelia’s face quickly turned to one of shame as she considered the Fallen Angel’s words. As a summoner he knew there was more to the conflict between Kayle and Morgana that most knew, but even he had to admit to believing some of the nasty rumors spread about her. “I-I,” started Irelia. “Feel guilty and ashamed for making preemptive judgment calls about someone based off of their appearance and rumors likely spread by their bitter rival?” finished Morgana with a frown. “Believe me, I know what you feel.” “As for you Jevitz. You will do your best to fix this, and I will check if there is any merit to your claims of innocence. Just know that if they are harmed whoever caused this will learn true suffering, there will be no world safe for them.” Jevitz heard the threat in her words, if he was responsible and they get hurt he wouldn't be able to put enough distance between them to escape her. He was ok with that, even if she didn’t completely believe him, it was progress. He felt surprisingly better knowing that he had an “ally” or at least someone who hadn’t completely assumed it was his fault, despite the fact that this "ally" was threatening him with eternal torture. Now he just had to somehow inform a High Summoners and hope they believed him or cared enough to do anything about it, no big deal. That faint glimmer of hope revitalized Jevitz, he couldn’t help but wonder how determined they were to kill him. If they wanted him to actually have a shot at finding anything they would have to remove his cuffs before they threw him into Aether, and if that was the case he might be able to get his voice heard after all.