A Search Through Runeterra (Arcane)

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like banana." ~Zilean, The Chronokeeper (Can't killean the Zilean)

Do not ask me what the quote means. No one knows. It just exists.

This and the upcoming chapters are my work around for travel time. The next time you see Gregori a significant amount of time would have passed.

Important: Character lore has been changed to better fit overall timeline and flow. The actual lore is a bit different but at this point a lot of the lore is outdated. So, I'm changing things around.

 Gimme meme, stone or comment.

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Her mother had been making things very difficult for her. 

No. Soreana Du Coteau was not actively trying to harm her daughter. It was just that her existence made life harder for her.

The Black Rose wanted Soreana dead and for the last few years, Cassiopeia had been the one who stood in between the Black Rose and her mother. Even though her mother belonged to the organization, a Du Coteau could not be trusted anymore, not after their support of Swain's betrayal of the order. He had turned against even his own parents, what would stop others from betraying them as well. If not for the immense test she had to complete, her own initiation would have been impossible. But despite everything every single person sent after her mother had fallen to her clutches. She was smart with her actions. No traces. Not an iota of proof.

They might have suspicions but there was nothing that could have her outed.

After news of her father's passing found its way to her, she had begun to stop caring for her mother's life as much. Her love for the woman and wearing down.

She wanted a certain kind of daughter. Scheming, calculating and intelligent. And now that very same daughter had started to lose interest in her mother. She had grown to find people only useful as tools. It seemed.... her mother fell into the same category. And she was outliving her use.

Once Noxus recognized her claims to the seat of the Du Coteau house over that of the adopted son, then the greatest gift her mother could give her was her death.

But that was what she was doing from Urzeris. 

Cassiopeia, on the other hand had a different mission. One that would affect her future more than anyone could possibly imagine.

The Noxian expansion into Shurima had brought about a lot of profits. But her mother and the Black Rose were focused on something else.

Shuriman history.

It spoke of beings from its golden days.

God-Warriors.

Ascended.

Men granted power, immense enough to face armies alone and win. And ancient Shurima, supposedly had an army of such warriors. An entire army.

And it was not just one historical article but many all littered across the desert. Ruins. Intact tombs. Everything had at least one mention of these beings and their godlike powers.

After her father's death, her mother had grown paranoid. She had begun to see omens of death everywhere. Though Cassiopeia supposed that her mother was accurate in her fears. They were indeed true.

But that had made her send Cassiopeia on a chase. A chase to find and harness the power of these warriors.

It wasn't something like a wild goose chase.

The Black Rose were doing this as well. They believed that they could find and intact ruin with instructions on creating a warrior like this.

That led Cassiopeia to believe that it did exist. The Black Rose did not follow false leads.

And instead of searching the west for ruins, Cassiopeia had done something different. She had started east. It had the largest amount of recorded ruins. That would mean that there were still ruins left undiscovered. The sand buried most of them.

Just a couple intact ruins was all she needed to get a solid lead on her final destination

And she did find them.

Three ruins all pointing in a certain direction.

South of Kalamanda, near the center of ancient Shurima.

That was where the ruins all pointed. A long lost tomb of an Ascended.

She had hired this mercenary woman. Sivir.

Her performance was astounding. She could also hold her own against various kinds of enemies. And she did not falter even once. A truly reliable ally.

But a week and a few days ago, something came to her attention. The appearance of a man and a bunch of children. She sent her siblings a letter inquiring about this strange man.

He had shown an interest in Sivir and her weapon.

The same weapon that had been mentioned multiple times in the crypts that they had explored.

But rather than look toward the weapon, the man had looked toward the woman herself.

That was what affected her.

Almost as if he believed that the woman held more value than the item itself.

But it was the Chalikar.

Believed to be a divine weapon.

The woman herself had no clue of the true value of what she possessed. Sivir had called it an important weapon, she had unearthed in one of her explorations.= but did not research further into it.

Cassiopeia, however, knew its true value.

It was a key.

A key to the tomb.

As they approached the entrance of the newly found tomb, Cassiopeia new what had to be done.

The group entered, with Sivir leading them, expertly disarming any trap that lay in their path. She smirked, a truly valuable tool this woman had turned out to be.

They reached the depths of the tomb. The last gate. One that had the statue of a massive snake positioned above the entrance.

That was when she made her move.

SHINK

"Wha-" Sivir's body jerked forward from the sudden impact. "Why?"

Cassiopeia stepped back as Sivir turned around, her hand letting go of the knife she thrust into the girl's back.

"You did a good job of leading me here Sivir." Cassiopeia said as she spun around, taking in her surroundings. "But your usefulness ends here. The price of hiring you.... a cut of the profits. Well..... the profits from this tomb are too much to share with anyone. And who in the right mind would share it with a Shuriman sand rat like you."

Sivir clawed at her back and pulled out the dagger. "Argh!" She leapt at Cassiopeia.

But with a kick she felt to the ground.

Cassiopeia took the Chalikar off her person and walked toward the inner doors of the tomb. It had a hole. One fit for a very Chalikar shaped key.

"I must thank you for bringing me the key to this place as well. Truly a great service. If only you had asked for riches instead of a cut from the tomb.... all of this could be avoided." She said almost sadly.

Sivir looked up from the ground, feeling the life leave her alongside the blood.

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

The latches to the doors opened.

CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRKKK

The sound of something moving echoed from above Cassiopeia. She looked up. 

And she was swept into the jaws of the snake statue that stood above the doors.

A smile crept onto Sivir's face as she watched Cassiopeia get taken by the jaws of the statue. Her screams like the sweetest nectar in her ears.

The Noxian soldiers moved to help their lady but she could not be reached.

Cassiopeia kept screaming as her body was injected by some kind of poison from the snake. Her blood burned within her as the snake held her.

BANG

The tomb doors flew open as red eyes floated in the darkness.

ROOOOOAAAARRR

An infernal roar shook the tomb to its foundations. And from within the confines shot out an armored giant man-crocodile hybrid. Its hands held a giant crescent axe.

The creature's eyes landed on the soldiers and it roared once more.

SWING

It swung its weapon at them.

They did not stand a chance.

"NASUS!" The creature yelled as it ran out of the tomb without a moment's hesitation.

Renekton was free.

"Ah ha ah ha!" A soft chuckle escaped the darkness as another creature floated out, its eyes observed the two women, "Ah. Betrayal. How interesting." It watched as Cassiopeia struggled and Sivir slowly died, "It seems that I cannot entertain you further. The world awaits my return." It turned away from them and flew outside. Blue arcs of magic barely contained within the coffin it was sealed in. But it couldn't hold everything back.

Magic found a way. 

And it did so for him as well.

The coffin became his body, its metal molding itself into arms and legs. 

He floated out of the tomb. The tomb that was rapidly breaking down.

Xerath was free.

A shadow shimmered into view. A man in a cowl. Talon looked at his struggling sister. Her letter had seen to it that he arrive in Shurima. It seemed lucky that he would be able to safe her now.

In an instant, he had landed on the ground with her in his arms.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to Sivir and then he sank back into the shadows with Cassiopeia in his arms.

That was the last thing Sivir saw as life left her body and the tomb crumpled around her.