Blessed Isles, 25 BN.
As the last scholar fell, the young king stepped forward, plunging his blade into the white marbles of the blessed pond. He turned around,walking out of the room and returned with the corpse of his wife. He wouldn't be denied, he wouldn't allow it.
He couldn't lose her. Viego stepped into the pond, with Isolde in his hands. He layed her in the waters and watched her float for a second, before she sank.
Nothing. Viego sighed, finally accepting that she was long gone. The Blessed Isles were attacked? for nothing. The conquest? in vain. His Kingdom? spiraled into destruction.
Just as he was about to turn, Isolde's eyes opened. Joy rushed through the young king's heart. It worked! They were lying.
Isolde sank deeper. Viego had to get her out. Then, a green must erupted from the waters, encircling the young king of Camarov. Viego turned around to reach his blade. A shadow snatched the weapon, and vanished again in the mist.
Viego frantically looked around the room. Just then, a primal instinct urged him to turn around...
Isolde!
Viego smiled. But what Isolde was once wasn't there. She drove the blade into his heart, pinning him into the ground. Viego couldn't care less. He had her again. His love, his life, his queen.
Isolde vanished. Viego stretched out his hand, not believe that he had lost her. His heart broke, he was...in ruins.
The young king screamed in rage and agony. And perhaps it was the waters, perhaps it was his own determination, that brought life to the black mist that with a shockwave destroyed the Blessed Isles and killed thousands.
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Camavor, 997 AN.
She was alive again!
Viego was full of joy. She was alive again!
He did it! After a millenia, he did it!
But Isolde denied him, scolded him. Not a word of comfort, of rejoice. And then...she was gone again.
"NO!" Viego screamed as he saw her getting blown by the weapon. The music box fell from his hands. He turned around, full of rage, pain and agony. All this...all this in vain.
The Sentinel fired at him, sending him crashing onto his throne. Then, that hideous doll pinned him down, engulfed him by that terrible mist she controlled. Viego roared...and his roar died on his lips.
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Viego fell on all fours, violently coughing and pounding his chest.
How long has it been?
"Mist! Get out of my lungs! I command you!" he ordered.
But...where was his black mist? Was he still in Camarov?
The Ruined King looked around him. He was still in his home. And then he remembered everything. Once again his heart was broken...but all he could do now was lament.
Something caught his attention. The music box he had given Isolde on their wedding night. The male had fallen off, yet it was still playing the melody. Viego picked it up, softly pressing it against his cheek as he sat back down, the only thing left to comfort him was this.
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Shadow Isles, now.
"You..." Viego slammed his gauntlet into the Rookie's temple, sending him crashing on the wall.
The rest of those present tried to defend themselves...how foolish.
He raised his sword and slammed it down, sending a shockwave that threw everyone on the ground.
The fox tried to move away, getting overtaken by fear. He saw it in her face, in her flopped ears. In how she clawed and pushed the ground in an attempt to distance herself from him. Viego smiled. He had seen her again. Two years ago...she sealed him in the amulet.
The fox threw a weird orb at him. Viego avoided the projectile with ease.
"First on the list. My sweet little fox. We me-" Viego didn't get to finish the sentence, as the orb returned, hitting him on the shoulder. He stumbled and with a groan approached again.
"As it seems, you wish to be the one that will assist me with my plans. So be it." Viego stretched his hand towards Ahri, and closed his fist as if he was grasping something. Ahri then screamed in pain, before she was engulfed by the mist.
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Lanius stumbled into the hall. The mist there was thicker. Seeing everyone on the ground, he summoned his weapon, alarmed.
"Where is Ahri?" Kayn's voice sounded, sending shivers down the Winter's spine. Where was she? Where was the Ruined King?
The two green eyes that lit up in the mist gave away where Viego was. Lanius moved towards that way. "Show yourself, Ruined King! What have you done to the vesani?!" he asked.
"I? Nothing. I just...made her more beautiful. She already is...but she needed some adjustments before she aided me." Viego's voice sounded different, as if it was combined with Ahri's.
How was that possible? Wasn't he there? Where was Ahri?
The mist around that part cleared, revealing the one inside it. The poleaxe fell from the young man's hands. The Ionians looked in horror of what happened.
Viego wasn't the one who hid in the mist...
It was Ahri. Her appearance was corrupted. More seductive, but ruined.
Lanius stumbled. Then, after letting a scream full of rage, he grabbed Mesfin's kama from the ground and charged straight at her.
Ahri laughed and disappeared into the mist, causing the young man to simply slash at the thick black fog that engulfed the room.
"I'll follow your advise, Winter. I'm done with Isolde. I now crave...revenge." Viego's voice sounded in the mist. As another response, the music box dropped in front of him.
The mist then retracted outwards. A cruel laugh from Ahri ringed in their ears, causing the young man to fall to his knees.
" He...has her." The Rookie exclaimed, grabbing his right side as he leaned on his wayfinder.
"We have to save her." Xayah said.
"Lanius?" Rakan called out for him. So did Sett and Akali.
But the young man just sat there with empty eyes, looking at the music box that continued to play the melancholic song.
The Ruined King had awakened again. Lanius had trusted him. He had taken the risk, gambled...and lost. Lost the one he cared the most about. The one he swore to help. Xayah was right, he indeed trusted to quickly. In mere seconds, he undid what the Sentinels had done in a year, at the cost of dozens of Sentinels.
"You...have to stop him. Break the crown on her forehead. This is the only way to save her." The elder Sentinel said.
"How?" Lanius asked then.
"Use Mesfin's weapon to shatter it." the Rookie replied.
"But where will we find him?" Rakan wondered.
"I know...he'll be at the capital. The Warden will return today. He wronged the Ruined King, and thus he'll want his revenge on him." Hecarim sounded behind them.
The others turned around with their weapons drawn. Hecarim simply passed through them and walked off." I don't care about you, mere mortals. But the Ruined King...is a miasma."
Lanius got up. His face wad full of determination. He'd save her.