The young man continued to spin the crystal in his hand as he thought. Something suddenly clicked inside his head as he remembered something. The podium that the necklace was sitting on had a hole in its center similar to the crystal's shape.
"I know where we must use it." Lanius exclaimed. "Follow me." he grabbed the vesani's hand and walked off to the room he had found.
"Slow down, where are we going?" Ahri asked.
"An hour ago I discovered a room that had a podium with a hole that would perfectly fit the crystal." Lanius explained as he slowed down. "Perhaps it unlocks something, like a hidden door or a power source of some sort."
"We can go check it then." Ahri muttered.
The two passed through rooms and eventually made it to the one that they were looking. They then stopped directly in front of the podium.
"This is it. Since the vault is technically yours, may you do the honours?" Lanius handed her the crystal.
Ahri chuckled and took it. "I may." she carefully placed it in the hole and took a step back.
Nothing happened. Ahri readjusted it. Nothing happened again. They then looked around the room, trying to find any clues.
"Any ideas?" Lanius asked her.
"Vaarn." Ahri replied with a faint smile, also putting a smile in the Winter's face. "Wait, I see something on the podium." she said, making him turn around.
He approached the podium and looked at what she was pointing.
"Vas-om." the words were engraved on one of the sides.
"Vas-om..." Ahri repeated the words. "It means vastayan magic."
"Yeah..." Lanius tried to think of a meaning. Something then clicked inside his head. "It doesn't power things up, it needs to be powered!" he exclaimed.
"How exactly?" Ahri seemed confused.
"Vastaya are magic-born creatures, right?" Lanius tried to explain. "My guess is that this crystal acts as a core that when charged with magic, can power up something."
"So we...power up the crystal to power up the room. Weird for a vesani contraption." Ahri muttered.
"When did you find this crystal, Foxy?" Lanius then asked.
"It was in a sealed room I opened two years ago. I kinda just left it there back then as we were in a hurry, and since we came back, I thought that I could find out about this." Ahri grabbed the crystal using her fingertips.
As she did that, small teal sparks similar to the ones that Sett produced began to be emitted from her palm. The crystal's inside begun to glow into a smooth lime shade.
Lanius watched her and then the memory of her orb back in the forest flashed. She hadn't used her orb ever since then, but something told him that she'd use it again soon.
Once she stopped, she carefully placed the crystal in the hole again. Again, nothing happened.
Ahri remained silent for a few seconds. "Why don't you try as well? Maybe it needs more power."
"Can hybrids use vastayan magic?" he wondered.
"Aren't you a vastaya?" she asked back. "It's like your ice magic."
"Not exactly. The Winter's powers aren't considered magic. They're embedded into the Verhea's soul from the day he becomes the Winter. For that reason, petricite also doesn't affect us, otherwise Demacia wouldn't see any snow." he said, scratching the back of his head.
"Well its easy,I'll show you." Ahri grabbed his hand. "Focus on your hand."
Lanius did so. "Done."
"Now, make a clear image of you channelling the spell you want into your hand." she continued.
Lanius hesitated. He then thought about this...and focused. A faint crimson glow left his palm.
"Good, image it grows bigger, but try to keep it in your desired form." Ahri noted.
Lanius concentrated once more. The glow now overtook his palm. Small sparkles now erupted from his hand.
"You got it!" Ahri placed the crystal in the young man's hand that was casting magic and touched the free side with hers, also casting her own portion. "Try to channel it in the crystal. Think that you are penetrating it."
Lanius grit his teeth. The crystal's inside was filled with a motive of teal and red light. As they continued to fuel it with magic, the crystal began to produce sparks.
The two finally stopped transferring maic to the crystal and Ahri placed it in the hole on the podium.
The engravings on the podium then were suddenly filled with a gold light. The light then travelled down to two lines on the floor and on the wall on their left. The wall then opened in half, revealing a staircase that led further down.
"Should we tell the others first?" the young man asked.
"No need, it's a very narrow space to fit mist golems." Ahri replied and walked down the stairs.
"What are mist golems?" he asked as they walked down.
"Mist golems were creations of the Vesani. They used the then still pure white mist as a power source. With the destruction of the Isles, the golems turned mad inside the vault. We deactivated them all two year ago." she explained.
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.
.
The staircase finally ended, and the two reached a small yet room. It was all decorated with white and black marble. At the wall in front of the entrance, a big gold threaded tapestry was hanging. It depicted a nine tailed male vesani with the Sentinel clothing and a relic kama in each hand, charging towards Hecarim with rage depicted in it's face.
At the center of the room stood a marble table with a set of items. A Sentinel suit, a black book, a vesani necklace and one of the two kama. The other one was nowhere to be found.
"Is this..." she asked.
"A monument for a vesani Sentinel...perhaps." The Rookie sounded behind them, causing both of them to jump and spin around.
"How did you get down here?" Lanius and Ahri asked at the same time.
"From the door. Believe it or not, a moving wall makes a lot of noise." the Rookie said as he fully entered the room and looked at the tapestry, then at the table. "Yup, it's a monument."
"So this vesani was one of you?" Ahri asked, picking up the book and examining it.
"Possibly. The organisation was founded before this place turned like this, so it's safe to assume that at a point, one of your tribes would join our ranks." the Rookie explained. "Tho this tapestry doesn't look more than a thousand years old. It's quite new." he said, getting closer to it.
Ahri opened took a good look at the book and decided to take it with her. Lanius picked up the relic kama. "Akali might need this. I'm sure that our guardian over here won't mind."
"I also don't think that he'd mind. It's not uncommon for others to borrow the weapons of our deceased, even if they're not a Sentinel." the Rookie replied as he moved towards the stairs.
Lanius and Ahri looked at each other and also left the room.
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.
"So they have fled?" The Warden asked.
"Yes...those dammed Sentinels got in our way and snatched them away." Hecarim replied.
"Sentinels...hmm. Perhaps you will get to use your spear, Hecarim. How did the others look like?" The Warden then asked.
"Eight people. Two bird vastaya, a vesani, another vastaya, three humans and a Bhuru. One of them gave off a weird feeling...as if it was a Wraith." Hecarim replied.
"A vesani..." The Warden chuckled. "I know...where they are...and where they might be going."