"Ionia... it is preparing itself.... fortifying the lands... Something is coming." ~ Karma, The Enlightened One
Apologies for the delays. The prep for the interviews and the interviews and sessions of Corekeeper have been taking up most of my time.
The thing with this chapter is..... with the presence of all these characters it is difficult to write it. Took me around 5 days of deliberation and rewriting but I'm okay with this. Not excited but okay. Works just enough for it to lead up to the next chapter.
I can only be thankful that I don't have the pressure to upload because I don't make money of this lol. Anyway, schedule should return to normal soon..... hopefully.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The army surrounded them, intending on overwhelming them with numbers.
The ground shook as they leapt at them.
BOW DOWN
Tibber's voice echoed as it let out a wave of flames that spread outward. The blazing heat melting the puppets attacking them but harmlessly passing through those it was protecting.
Annie pushed her arms outward. A flash of fire erupted.
The puppets stopped moving as a ring of fire formed around them.
"You are melting them." Viktor remarked from their bodies. His voice echoing in a horrifying manner, as all the heads tilted slightly, observing them. "Then they shall not be melted anymore." The words signaled a change as the puppets started to shake before slowly stepping forward.
The ring of fire stood tall with Annie powering it.
STEP
STEP
They marched forward. Right into the fire. But this time..... they did not melt. Their bodies weathered the flames and the blistering heat.
BURN
Tibbers roared as Annie's flames began to glow brighter, until they were white hot.
The puppets barely held their shape but they looked softer than before.
Tibbers swung his claws sending those near him flying but he couldn't cover the whole area. Some of the puppets began to slip through.
Briar clenched her fist and punched the closest one. It went flying toppling those behind it. She pulled her fist back wincing as the skin on her knuckles blistered from the heat.
"Shield Rell!" Faye yelled as she sent her magic into the Dawncore. It floated upward the rings around the metallic core began to spin rapidly. As it spun, it returned the magic that Faye sent into it while amplifying it and increasing the strength of her own magic. Feeling the rush from the item, she flung her arms outward and let lose. The telekinetic ability of hers reacted, reaching out and grabbing the puppets closer to her and throwing them away.
Rell reacted to her words and sent magic into the shield shaped locket around her neck. The Locket of the Iron Solari gifted to her by Rahvun. The shield detached a little and opened out, the center glowing a bright gold. A magical dome shimmered into existence around the group. The shield glimmered gold before completely locking them inside and Tibbers and the rest outside, hiding them from the outside.
"How long do we have?" Daani asked as his tail curled in on itself, turning to Sydell, "And can you reach father?"
Sydell shook his head, "I can only see him. I can't reach out to him, this is a one-way connection."
"Magical artifacts?" Viktor's voice boomed, "Interesting. There IS some ingenuity that might allow you remain human for longer.
"We have as long as this locket glows." Rell answered the earlier question, "Once it is gone we are back out in the open."
Daisy turned to Annie, "Will Tibbers be transforming fully?" Referring to its fully released state as just a mass of flames that burned through everything in its path.
She stood near the edge of the dome with her eyes closed, "He can't transform yet."
Faye turned to her, "How? Didn't he do it before? Against Naga?"
"Noxus had a lot of guilt." Annie answered, "He has been feasting for years and had been eating for nearly five years before. The guilt he has been consuming recently have just been us and the two cities have a distinct lack of guilt compared to everywhere else."
Rell understood the reasoning for the lack of guilt. Zaun was focused on survival, guilt was not something to consider and Piltover was too opulent to feel guilt. Their situations put them so far away from guilt that it would never add up as much as Noxus. She looked at the tattoos on her arms and closed her eyes, letting the memories wash over her. Slowly, she let go of her magic, letting it sink into the earth below them.
Jinx fell to the ground, shaking as the very will to fight disappeared from her mind. Vi held her in her arms. The two of them in their own world, fully immersed in their grief. Caitlin looked at the two with a complex emotion, while clenching her fists.
Sevika held Isha tight and looked at Annie, "That was the demon? Is it still fighting?"
"It is." Annie answered, "They cannot stop him and he does not get tired."
Sydell answered, "Is there a way to get him to transform?"
"Guilt." Annie answered, "He needs more guilt. And I know what we need to do."
Sydell eyed her, expecting her to continue.
Annie finally opened her eyes and looked toward Mel and Jayce, "Can you make Viktor feel guilty?"
"Umm..." Mel raised her head trying to think of a response.
Jayce slumped to the floor giving up, "Its no use. He cannot be stopped now."
"Let us worry about that." Daisy interrupted, "You just answer her question." Looking down on Jayce, she slid her sword back into the scabbard.
"He won't fall for it." Jayce answered looking up at her, "Viktor believes himself to be above mankind. Above humanity. Emotion is not something he considers. Not anymore."
"That doesn't matter." Annie cut in, "He isn't one person anymore. Tibbers can sense more than three hundred souls in a combined state right now. As long as you can get him to feel guilty for even one thing..... all the souls will feel the same guilt. That's all Tibbers needs." She looked to both Mel and Jayce, "You know everything about him. Use it all. Every secret. Every painful moment. Anything to make him feel the slightest amount of guilt."
"Wouldn't Viktor find a way to get past the flames even then?" Mel asked.
Annie shook her head, "Tibbers is one of The Ten. In his full state he should be able to burn through Viktor's magic or at the very least burn his mind."
"Are you sure about this?" Mel asked her mind not fully accepting Annie's words, "This burning thing is truly possible?"
"I've done it once before." Annie answered.
And she had.
She had burned her father.
When she had gotten sick as a child, her magic..... together with Tybaluk's had burnt her father's mind. It was why he was unable to move or help as her mother sacrificed herself to save her.
He had believed it to be an actual sickness but it wasn't.
It had been her.
Tibbers had told it to her a year ago.
"Jayce..." Mel turned to her lover, "We have to try...."
Looking up at Mel's hopeful face, Jayce grit his teeth and closed his eyes. A moment later, he reopened them with a semblance of determination, "What else can we lose but our lives."
"And we are close to losing that as well." Daani chuckled in desperation.
It was possible to make Viktor experience a human emotion.... since it was Viktor who had set Jayce on this path. The future self wanting to kill the past self in order to save the world from himself.
He rose to his feet and nodded, "We will try."
"Then when this shield drops...." Rell began as she opened her eyes, her magic having achieved the goal she had set out to do.
Daisy stepped forward, "Ask Tibbers if the souls are connected to each other or just to Viktor."
"Just to Viktor." Annie answered after a moment.
"Faye." Daisy proposed, "As they try to convince him..... you need to get me as close as possible to the cocoon Viktor is in." She shook her scabbard, "True Ice should kill him. If he dies then the souls stop too."
"That's cannot be the second plan then, it has to be done together..... we distract enough for Tibbers and you get close enough to finish it with the sword." Sydell shook his head, "This means we need to change the way we face him." Pointing to Daani he asked, "Can you make a clone of Daisy and maintain it for some time?"
Daani nodded.
"Straightforward methods are not going to work." Sydell continued, "Daisy can't get to Viktor by having Faye launch her. Won't work. We need another method." He pointed his finger down. "Underground." The ground rumbled as he said it.
"Then I'd need to have two clones." Daani rubbed his face.
Sydell nodded, "Briar is the only person who can dig us out of this encirclement. And once she does Viktor shouldn't be able to notice Daisy come to him if"
"I need to start now." Briar said as the edges of her hair slowly began to darken with a red blood like tone. Her hands turning into claws, she bent down and immediately began digging into the ground.
"You'd need cover for this plan to work. Enough to not be seen through by Viktor." Rell smiled, "I've got that part sorted." Her magic returned to her summoning all the metal underground to form another dome right under the shield. "The soil should be easier to dig now." Looking down at her rapidly dimming locket, she continued, "We only have a couple minutes left for this."
"Then we might as well help Briar." Sydell said as he jumped in beside Briar rushing to get a tunnel built toward the end of the encirclement.
A few minutes later, Rell looked at the group, "The shield is about to fall."