Abyss Watcher In The League V2 - 64 CH59

Another day in the Institute of War. Nidalee was the first to wake up today. She got to the living room… and saw her roommates sleeping on the couch.

Both Grey and Ahri were leaning on each other. The Nine-Tailed Vastaya was leaning on Grey’s shoulder with her ears twitching at every sound Nidalee made, while the Abyss Watcher was leaning back and letting his lover lean on him.

Nidalee couldn’t help but think that the sight was sweet. “Alright, you two, time to wake up,” the huntress called out to them.

Ahri’s ears twitched before she woke up first. She yawned while stretching. “Morning,” she greeted.

“Good morning,” Nidalee returned the greeting before her look softened. “How are you feeling?”

Ahri knew that the huntress was most likely worried about her state from yesterday. “Better, at least. Sorry for the way I acted,” she apologized. She hasn’t completely got over it, and she didn’t want to see Kindred any time soon, but spending last night playing and teaching Grey was pretty fun.

Nidalee shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re back to your usual self,” she replied before looking at the still sleeping Abyss Watcher. “Are you going to wake him up?”

the nine-tailed Vastaya nodded and grabbed her lover’s shoulder. “Grey, wake up,” she said shaking him gently.

After a few moments, Grey’s eyes opened. “Morning,” he greeted with a yawn.

“Good morning,” Ahri greeted back as she stood up from the couch. “Did you enjoy the games last night?” she asked.

“Yeah, they were fun,” Grey admitted as he also stood up. “Though I have to admit, I didn’t know what was going on most of the time.”

“Don’t worry, you did better than I thought, especially considering you never had to deal with technology before,” Ahri said as she and Grey walked into their room to get ready

Nidalee couldn’t help but smile. Obviously, Ahri didn’t get over why she was upset yet, but she was at least starting to act more cheerful. The Huntress didn’t think it would be too long before she’s back to her old self.

Time Skip: (Brought to you by chibi Ahri and chibi Grey playing Mario Carts, only to end up smacking into each other’s heads after getting too much into the game.)

Grey, Ahri, and Nidalee were walking to the dining hall to have breakfast. On their way, they saw Tiara. “Hey, Tiara,” Grey called out.

The Dancer turned around when she heard her brother, and the three roommates saw the bored look on her face. “Oh, hey,” she greeted in a tone that matched her features.

“Is something wrong?” Grey asked.

Tiara shook her head. “No, just bored out of my mind,” she answered before she joined them in walking to the dining hall. “I haven’t had any matches yet. Plus, there’s nothing to do here, so I’m pretty bored.”

“You call them interesting, I call them weaklings and weirdos,” Tiara retorted, causing Ahri and Nidalee to roll their eyes.

They all got into the dining hall before taking food and finding a table to sit in. They just ate in silence, which caused Tiara to be even more bored. The only entertainment she found was watching matches that were already going.

“Hey, Tiara,” Katarina appeared, walking towards them with someone beside her.

That person was a man wearing a blue, hooded cloak with the edges being covered in blades. They had tight, dark blue clothes under the cloak. Their right arm had a gauntlet with a long blade on it. Not much of his facial features were visible because of the hood.

“Oh, hey, Kat,” Tiara greeted before looking at the person beside her. “Who’s this?”

Katarina motioned to the man beside her. “Oh yeah. You people never met him, right?” she asked, also looking at Grey, Ahri, and Nidalee, who all shook their heads. “Well, let me introduce you. This is my brother, Talon.”

“You have a brother?” Ahri asked, rather surprised that she never heard about this, despite knowing Katarina for so long.

Katarina nodded. “Yeah. He doesn’t talk much, and he doesn’t like to stand out. So, I never really brought him up,” she explained.

“So, you’re Katarina’s brother?” Grey asked and Talon nodded. “Trust me, I know what you’re going through,” Grey said looking at Tiara.

“Huh, someone who actually understands my suffering,” Talon said in a quiet voice as he looked at Katarina.

“Hey!” both sisters said, feeling rather insulted.

“Anyway, what’s up,” Tiara asked, wanting to know why the redhead came here since Garen wasn’t around.

“I was just passing by when I saw you, thought I’d say hi before leaving back to Noxus for some business,” Katarina explained. “What about you?”

“Nothing and I’m bored out of my mind because of it,” Tiara replied as she rested her head on the table. She moved it so she was looking at Katarina. “Hey, is there anything interesting in Noxus for me to see?”

Katarina raised an eyebrow. “You want to go to Noxus?” She didn’t sound like she minded, but was just surprised and confused.

“I’m just bored, and there’s nothing here for me to do. I still don’t have any matches. So, I ask again, is there anything for me to do in Noxus?” Tiara explained before asking her question again.

Katarina looked at Talon, seeing if it’s okay since they were going on business,s and Tiara’s presence would cause any problems.

Talon just shrugged his shoulders, showing his sister that he either doesn’t care or that Tiara wouldn’t be interfering with their business.

Seeing his response, Katarina looked back at Tiara. “Well, there IS this battle arena that Draven runs. It was for executing prisoners until the Institute was made. Now, while we still execute Noxian prisoners there, it’s mainly to show off and people fight in it every day. If you want, I can get you in there to have a few good fights.”

“Sold!” Tiara suddenly yelled as she stood up from her chair. “I guess I’ll be getting a look at what Noxus looks like,” she commented before looking at her brother. “Grey, if anyone goes into my room or touches my stuff, crucify them.”

With those parting words – at least that’s what they were to Tiara – she followed Talon and Katarina as they started heading out of the dining hall.

When they weren’t around anymore, Ahri turned to Grey. “Was she serious about that last part?” she asked.

The Abyss Watcher sighed and hung his head. “Sadly, yes,” he replied.

“You’re… Not really gonna do it, right?” Ahri asked, unsure if it was right to ask that question.

Grey shrugged his shoulders. “Depends on who touches her stuff,” he replied. Ahri considered that response to be fair, considering that Tiara was his sister after all.

Meanwhile, Talon, Katarina, and Tiara reached the transport station. The summoner there immediately stood attention.

“Good day, champions,” the summoner greeted. “Leaving the Institute?”

“Yeah, straight to Noxus,” Katarina replied.

The summoner nodded and motioned to the Rune circle. “Very well, stand in the circle, please,” he requested and they did what they were told.

The summoner started waving his hands and the Rune began to shine. It wasn’t long before the scenery around the champions began changing. They arrived in a transport station similar to the one they were just in, except that this one had darker colors and there was the crest of Noxus above the exit.

“Welcome to Noxus, champions,” the summoner there greeted them.

The three champions simply nodded in response and came out through the exit. When they did that, Tiara finally got to see Noxus in its full glory.

The first thing that came to her mind was metal, a lot of metal. Most buildings were made of it. The only things that were not completely made of metal were a few houses, the streets, and a few wooden stalls for people selling stuff.

The second thing she noticed was the people, there were a lot of them. All of them moving around and minding their own business while pushing others out of their way.

“Come on, we got to see Swain first to give you permission,” Katarina said as she and Talon started walking through the people.

Tiara just shrugged her shoulders and followed close by. She noticed that people were making way for Katarina and Talon, almost afraid to just face their direction.

She wasn’t surprised. The Dancer experienced what it feels like to be popular – and feared – assassin. However, this was the first time she was in such a populated area.

Tiara noticed that they were headed to an odd building… A very big odd building. It seemed to be completely made of metal, several layers of it, most likely to ensure the endurance of the structure.

She also noticed something very out of place. At the side of the building, at the very bottom, there was a giant hole, looking like something had burst from inside the building.

“What happened there?” Tiara asked, motioning to the hole, unable to hide her curiosity.

Katarina noticed what Tiara was motioning to and answered. “THAT is what happens when a giant, iron revenant decides to wake up.”

That answer only further confused Tiara. “What?”

“Mordekaiser,” Talon suddenly spoke. “He’s a champion, an Undead one. He was the original ruler of Noxus, and people rebelled against him. They thought he was gone for good. But, apparently, he wasn’t.”

“His armor was buried deep inside the Immortal Bastion,” Katarina took over the explanation. “No one actually knew where it exactly was. Until he decided to return. He broke through and killed his way across Noxus. Alone, he managed to take one-third of Noxus to himself. I also heard he managed to take over half the Shadow Isles. Swain was actually about to ask Demacia and Ionia for help to deal with him. But, the Institute was made, and the Grand Summoner was able to convince Mordekaiser to join, believe it or not. I guess you can say Noxus agreed to join the Institute for protection against Mordekaiser.”

Tiara raised an eyebrow, actually interested in the subject. From what she heard, Noxus isn’t exactly liked by either Demacia or Ionia and that was sugar-coating it to the point where it wasn’t even funny. Yet, Mordekaiser still managed to scare Noxus enough to consider asking them for help.

Before any more can be said on the subject, Talon and Katarina continued walking towards the Immortal Bastion, so Tiara decided to ask for more info later and just follow them.

After going through one of the large gates – which was guarded by men in black metal armor – the three champions walked one of the many halls that were covered in metal.

There were many soldiers and all of them stood attention when they saw Talon and Katarina. Tiara just ignored them all as she kept following the two.

They reached a pair of gates with the crest of Noxus in the middle of them. Katarina just opened the door and walked right in without knocking. Talon sighed at his sister’s actions before following her alongside Tiara.

Inside the room were two people. One was Swain – who was sitting in a large chair looking over a map of Runeterra with every region marked – the other was someone Tiara saw in the Institute but was never introduced to.

He was a man in his thirties. He had short, spiked hair combed back. He was wearing black armor with spiky shoulder plates and a few thin short capes connected to the armor’s back. He also had a large ax in his hand.

“Hey, boss,” Katarina greeted before looking at the other man. “Didn’t expect to see you here, Darius?”

The man with the ax – Darius – ignored her and just looked at Tiara with a scowl. “Who is she?” he demanded rather than asked.

“This is Tiara, a champion. She’s the sister of the Abyss Watcher,” Talon answered.

Swain raised an eyebrow. “And for what reason did you bring her?” he would have questioned if the Abyss Watcher actually has a sister, but he didn’t really care.

“I just came to see what the ‘great nation of Noxus has to offer,” Tiara was the one to answer that question. “I heard there’s some kind of battle arena here. So, I decided to see what your nation’s warriors can do.”

“You’d be wise to not underestimate Noxian strength,” Darius said, gripping his ax tightly.

“I haven’t seen anything worth to be impressed about yet,” Tiara retorted, giving Darius an uncaring look.

Swain sighed in annoyance before reaching under the table and pressing a button. Seeing that he didn’t try to hide his actions, Tiara just waited to see what would happen.

After what could be only two seconds, a soldier came into the room. “Sir,” he said standing attention.

Swain took out a piece of paper and wrote on it before getting up from the chair, walking around the table, and giving the paper to the soldier. “Take her to the Reckoning, and give this to Draven.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” the Soldier gave a solute as he took the paper and turned around to leave the room.

Tiara just shrugged her shoulders and started following the soldier. When she was gone, Darius glared at Katarina. “Why did you bring her here? Didn’t you know we have business?” he asked, obviously not pleased.

Katarina rolled her eyes, mostly because she noticed that Darius didn’t as much as glance at Talon. “Relax. She just came along for a few fights in The Reckoning. What does it matter if she came in?” she asked.

Darius didn’t actually seem pleased. “Calm down, Darius,” Swain said as he sat back down. “She has no interference with the job I’m going to give these two. It doesn’t matter what she does in the Reckoning.”

Darius grunted in annoyance but did nothing more. “So, why did you call for both me and Talon?” Katarina finally asked.

While Swain started explaining, Tiara walked out of the Immortal Bastion following the soldier. They walked through the streets and kept going until a large, circular building.

Tiara noticed that a lot of people were coming in and out of the building, mostly the former. They entered through a gate that didn’t have people in it. Most likely because of the pair of guards near it.

They reached a crossroads where the soldier pointed at the left hall. “Head over there and wait until your name is called. I’ll explain the situation to Draven.”

“Whatever you say,” Tiara shrugged her shoulders as she went to the isle that the soldier pointed at.

She kept walking until she passed through a gate that led her into a large room at the side of the arena. Looking over the side, which didn’t have a wall, she looked over the arena to see how it looked.

It was mostly covered in dirt and sand. There were a few fallen weapons on the ground, such as shields, swords, spears, axes, and so on.

Suddenly, a guy wearing an all-black uniform with a weird blond haircut walked into the middle of the arena with a microphone in hand.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” he called out into the microphone, causing his voice to echo into the arena. “I hope you’re all pretty excited because we have some pretty great fights planned out! Now, give it up to our host! The one, the only, Draaaaaven!” he said pointing at a private booth behind him.

Inside the booth was a man with black, long, wild hair. He had a thin mustache and a smug grin on his face as he waved at the people. He was wearing a sleeveless fur coat over his exposed chest which had a few tattoos. He had leather gloves, and a pair of oddly shaped axes strapped to his waist.

One look at the man – Draven – and Tiara can tell he loved attention more than his own life.

“Now, for our first fight, we got a special surprise for everyone!” the arena announcer said. “Today, we have a champion straight the Institute of War!” he revealed, causing the crowd to go wild.

Tiara figured that what he said was her cue. After putting on her helmet, she walked into the arena and the people must have figured out that she was the champion because they started cheering.

“And, facing her, the monster of a man, Manta!” the announcer introduced her opponent as he walked into the arena.

It was a man wearing a fur cape and a pair of fur pants. But, that was all he wore. His body was covered in animal tattoos and he was holding a pair of axes. He swung them around before screaming to the crowd.

Tiara just rolled her eyes and looked at the announcer, waiting for him to begin the battle. “Let’s not wait any longer, and begin this battle! Just remember: do whatever you have to in order to win!”

The announcer walked back quickly to get out of the fighting range. Manta immediately charged towards Tiara, axes in hand, ready to cut down his opponent.

The Dancer didn’t move, mainly because she was unimpressed. Manta obviously had strength and speed… But he was as predictable as a normal Hollow.

Tiara saw a circle shield on the ground near her foot. Deciding to just end the battle quickly, she kicked the shield up with her foot and grabbed it before throwing it at her opponent’s feet.

The shield hit its mark causing Manta to fall on the ground and slide until he was right in front of Tiara. Before he even had the chance to stand up, the Dancer put her foot on his back and stabbed one of her swords right where she knew his spine was. If that didn’t kill him, it would surely cripple him.

After making sure that her opponent isn’t moving anymore – dead, since she can’t see any movement that implies he’s breathing – Tiara pulled out her sword and looked at the announcer.

“Next,” was the only thing she said.

The arena was mostly in silence, the only sound was a burst of sudden laughter that came from the booth Draven was in.

Time Skip: (Brought to you by chibi Ahri and chibi Grey, drinking milkshake before chibi Ahri suddenly holds her head in pain as she got a brain freeze.)

The sun started setting. Tiara spent the day killing opponent after opponent and finished today’s competition in record time.

Tiara left the arena with a bag full of gold strapped to her waist. While she did deal with her boredom, it was quickly returning as she found nothing to do.

She decided to go back to the Immortal Bastion and hope to ask Katarina for something else to do. Either that, or she’ll go back to the Institute.

She went inside – after dealing with the guards that tried to stop her because she had no permit or was with anyone important – she headed towards Swain’s office, hoping to find Katarina.

“I’m back,” Katarina announced as she simply walked in.

Inside was only Darius and Swain, the former got his ax ready. “What are you doing here?” the Hand of Noxus asked.

“Well, I finished my fights in the arena, so I came looking for something else to do,” Tiara replied, uncaring of Darius’ threatening stance.

“Already?” Swain raised an eyebrow, sounding impressed.

The Dancer shrugged. “I went through worse when I was a kid training with Ghear.”

Suddenly, someone else entered the room. It was Katarina, followed by Talon, both looking agitated.

“What did you find?” Darius asked, quickly ignoring Tiara and getting to business.

“Nothing,” Katarina replied.

“What?” Darius was obviously not pleased.

“We didn’t find anything. We can’t even find the bodies. There are definitely signs that those people are killed, we just can’t find traces of where they went,” Katarina explained, crossing her arms.

“So, what’s going on?” Tiara asked, cutting in.

“None of your business. Now get out,” Darius said raising his ax.

Tiara just chuckled and put her hands on her waist. “Well, let’s see, I heard rumors during the Reckoning that a few Nobles have vanished. Judging by what Katarina just said, you probably sent her and Talon to investigate and find the killer. The fact they’re both champions also means this is pretty important and you want to solve this as soon as possible. You most likely don’t want the Institute to know, so that’s why you complied with my request so easily, since you were basically sent me away as soon as you started discussing the situation,” Tiara deducted, gaining surprised looks from around the room.

Darius immediately stood up, ready to attack Tiara and kill her now that she knows too valuable of information. “Wait,” but he stopped as Swain told him so. “From the way you’re speaking, you seem to desire to get involved.”

“If I said yes, would you let me help?” Tiara asked, smirking under her helmet.

Swain narrowed his eyes. “Why would you do that?” he asked.

“Pure boredom,” Tiara replied with a shrug. “I’m honestly just bored out of my mind. Solving a mystery like this seems the most fun thing to do around here, so why not?”

Swain kept his eyes on Tiara. She didn’t appear to be lying. Plus, Raum, the Demon of Secrets, didn’t reveal to Swain that Tiara was keeping any, so she was telling the truth.

“Very well,” the Grand General agreed, surprising Darius. “Katarina, take her to where the latest kills happened.”

Katarina was pretty surprised that Swain agreed. However, she would actually take any help at getting this annoying job done with, so she just shrugged it off and motioned for Tiara to follow her as they both exited the office, leaving Talon, Swain, and Darius.

“Why accept?” Darius finally asked, wondering why Swain involved outsiders.

“Simply put, if she can deduct the entire situation through mere rumors and a few sentences, then she has the skills to help us,” Swain replied before smirking. “Besides, free help, when not having a drawback, should always be taken advantage of.”

(A/N: Thank you for reading this.

Second, a special thanks to RoguetheUndying for helping me come up with the plot for these mini-arcs.

Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)