A Search Through Runeterra (Arcane)

"Their final moments approach."~ Kennen, The Heart of the Tempest

Oh is Sydell being Spider-Man too much for you? It shouldn't. He is a Kythera. Guess who else is a Kythera?

Elise.

She is literally his multiple times grandmother. 

He can be Spider-Man.

Necrit lore saving us once again. Whatever I wrote in the previous chapters I can tie in with current cannon easily. GGEZ!

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Out in the open was much more unsafe then one would originally think. The sound of the wall exploding would have alerted every guard in the vicinity.

And they would slowly gather up and comb through the school. Eventually they will find the destroyed wall.

Here is where the issue would begin, there was obviously the chance for them to imagine that it was a break-in rather than a break-out. but when they sent people to the top of the wall a single look would send the entire army after them. They were out in the open. They would stand out like Yordles amongst humans.

This meant that they were running out of time.

"We have to run now." He told the kids. "The guards will be after us soon. We run till we cannot see the walls."

And he took off running. The kids followed closely behind.

Then he heard the rhythmic thumping and catching up to him in the front was Rell. On a horse. A metal horse.

He slid to a halt and looked at her flabbergasted, "You have a horse?"

"I was running and it just formed." Rell sheepishly replied.

"Can you carry someone on the horse with you?" Gregori asked, eyeing the horse then Annie and Sydell.

Annie naturally could not run far and Sydell did not have anything to shoot his string towards.

"I don't know....." She said in thought.

Gregori turned around, picked up Annie and placed her on the horse. He then lifted Sydell and placed him on as well.

Without being told to, Rell willed the horse to move. It shot forward.

"Well. That answers the question." Gregori muttered as he watched the three ride off. Turning to the rest, "Lets catch up with them shall we?" He said.

But he spotted the want in Faye's eyes.

"I will carry you if you get tired." He looked at her and said. 

The instant she shot forward as well.

Daani looked at him for a second before sprinting past him as well.

Gregori and Briar looked at the kids rush out in front of them in confusion. Briar turned to him and shrugged.

"This is fun!" She said. Turning back to look at the rapidly disappearing backs, "Is this a race?" Briar asked, excitement creeping into her voice.

"If you want it to be." Gregori stated.

No later than the last words made its way out of his mouth, Briar ran forward. Her speed threw him off for a moment. She shot off like an arrow launched out a fully taut long bow.

"She was that fast?" Gregori asked no one in particular. He turned toward the wall, which had gotten a lot smaller. They had covered a lot of distance.

Turning back, he started sprinting after the kids.

He couldn't catch up with just his physicality since they were all slightly better than him at the moment. So, he relied on magic.

With every step forward, he pulled himself forward. The average steps he had needed to take while running to cover a distance was now shortened by a massive amount.

And in under a minute he caught up with the children. Faye was lagging behind and he could see her falter. Daani was pushing forward with all he had. Briar was already neck and neck with the three on the horse. The way she ran was..... intimidating to say the least.

If he was being chased by her, Gregori was sure he would have nightmares.

She ran as if she was swimming on the ground. Her arms swinging sideways as if cutting through the air itself.

He couldn't fault the style itself..... not when it was showing such great results.

Running behind Faye, he grabbed her out of the sky and had her climb on to his back. Which she did without complain while also giggling like the little child she was.

They went over hill after hill for nearly half an hour, before they came to a stop.

The wall was well out of sight and no one would be chasing them for a while. There were still trackers and beasts that could follow their scent but it would not be necessary until they made sure that no one had breached into the capital.

Protect the civilians, despite all the bullshit happening in Noxus, no one would be taking any risks with its people.

They were the present and future soldiers after all.

The stopped at a place that led up to multiple hills around them. A safer spot, unless someone came looking. But that was not possible.

Gregori let Faye down and patted her head. A bit roughly, since he was tired. He had run for a very long distance and had used magic. A lot of magic.

Physically, he was drained. But his mind was still active.

Faye gave him a great big smile and sat right there in the open.

Rell's horse broke apart and became her full metal armor. Her lance remained as it was. Sydell and Annie looked at the girl in awe before clapping.

She gave the two kids a bow and sat down herself, her metal skirt shifting to give way. Underneath the armor she wore pants.

Which was good. Gregori had only two sets of pants and Briar was wearing one.

Briar also sat down heavily, but she had a wide smile on her face. She had never experienced anything like this before. Fun! Fun people! A father! Sisters! Brothers! Friends!

She got a family! And they did some interesting things.

Daani plopped down heavily and curled in on himself, his tail wrapping around his legs. Gregori made his way to him and pulled out a water skin and gave it to the boy.

"Drink." He said.

And he drank. Without stopping. Until he completely finished it all.

"Tha- Hah- nk Hah You Hah." He pushed out.

"Don't mention it. Though you have to wait till we get to a river for more. I don't have enough for everyone, since I underestimated how many kids I'd be saving." Gregori said, as he rubbed Daani's head.

Daani nodded in understanding.

"Daddy?" Annie called from beside Rell.

"Yes, Firefly?" Gregori asked, as he did he felt immeasurably happy. He hadn't said those words in so long.

"Can I get those too?" She asked as she pointed to Rell.

Gregori moved closer to look at where she was pointing. Rell hurriedly moved to cover up but Gregori managed to spot the markings.

As he moved closer, he saw Rell glaring at Annie.

"Rell its not nice to do that." Gregori stated as he moved closer, "Can I see those marking please? I will not judge you." He said as he waited near her.

The child was guarded. He did not know what she had been through, but having a thirteen year old decimate an entire school meant that she had to have been pushed quite far.

Letting her decide put the power in her hands. Giving her the illusion of choice was to let her feel safe. Giving her distance and space was important. She had lost her trust and belief in adults and that cannot be brought back in an instant.

It was a gradual process.

Rell looked at him and slowly shook her head.

"It's alright Rell." Gregori spoke softly, "You tell me when you are comfortable with it okay?" Gregori finished.

Rell nodded at that.

Simple wordplay. He had let her know that she could tell it when she felt comfortable with his presence. But that was easy.

The way he worded it made it so that she would automatically tell it when she felt comfortable.

Gregori would be easily accepted by the other kids. And she would feel left out. Eventually opening herself up to him.

And he was not in any hurry to examine the girl either way. There was still time for that. 

He had worried for a second that she might have been marked by blood magic but that was not possible. Her own magic seemed extremely powerful. And blood magic had a distinct feel to it. One she did not display.

She was clean.

And hence, not a priority.

It was morally questionable to play mind games with a child but it wasn't to harm her. No. Gregori genuinely wanted to help the girl. 

She was questioning everything.

He had been in a similar position before. Multiple times.

It wouldn't be fair to her if he just watched from the side.

Turning around, he spoke to Annie, "Well Annie... whatever Rell has.... you cannot get until you are older."

Annie pouted immediately, crossing her arms while glaring at him.

He shook his head and grabbed the girl, lifting her into the air. "I've missed you Firefly." He whispered as he looked at her. Trying to memorize every inch of her face.

She giggled, "You already said that daddy." 

He would say it any amount of times. The year of separation was not good for him. it would have been worse for her.

"Daddy?" Annie asked as she was held up.

Gregori raised his eyebrow in askance.

"Where is Daisy?" She asked.

He placed Annie back onto the ground before sitting down. Reaching into his bag, he passed every child a water skin. Leaving a total of three more. They would be emergency resources. 

He looked up at the sky and noticed, for the first time since his prayer, the star was no longer there. He had accomplished his mission.

That was all he needed to know.

Looking back toward Annie, he spoke, "Daisy is like you Annie." He started. His words gaining the attention of the kids near him, "See. Mummy Leanna was born in the Freljord. And in the Freljord, sometimes some children become Iceborn. Iceborn are stronger and faster than normal people. And they can wield weapons made out of True Ice. True Ice is very powerful and very dangerous. If anyone except an Iceborn touches it, they will die."

He looked toward all the children before continuing.

"When I pulled Daisy out of the river that day, her sleeping Iceborn nature woke up. She looks very different from how you remember, but she is still the same and she misses you terribly." He lovingly placed a hand on Annie's cheek.

Taking a breath, he spoke again, "But the change made her sleep. And to wake her up, I needed to go to the Freljord and meet their healers. So I had to go there. If I did not get her to wake up, then she would die as well. That is why I couldn't come for you immediately." He looked at Annie, "I'm so sorry Firefly." His voice broke a little as he spoke. "But I couldn't let Daisy die."

Annie wordlessly pushed her head into his shoulder and he grabbed her, bringing her closer.

A few moments later, he continued, "There I met some of the strongest people in Freljord and they gave me a big mission. An impossible one. Only then I could save Daisy." He flexed a little. "And I did it."

The younger kids looked awed, Briar as well. But Rell looked skeptical.

"-ori."

Gregori did not mind that she didn't believe. Her trust issues were still there. "But I was weak afterwards. It took me a few months to heal up and as soon as I was healed, I came to get you." He said, while looking at them all. Letting them know that he had come to get them all.

"-EGORI!"

"Who are you?" Rell asked him, squinting.

"My name is Gregori Hastur." Gregori said as he looked toward her, "You can call me dad or father if you want." He gave her the same offer as the rest.

She looked at his without replying.

Gregori felt the hair on his arms raise. Goosebumps appeared.

"TITAN!" He finally heard the voice. Caalyx.

He shot to his feet, Annie falling to the side. His hands were raised, the shield up and ready. He made to unwrap the spear.

Rell watched as the man answered her question and gave her a small smile. An inviting one. Before his expression changed. He shot to his feet and pulled out his weapon. With his other hand, he pulled out the long stick on his back. He tried to unwrap the stick.

"ALL OF YOU GET DOWN NOW!" He yelled as he fiddled with the wrapping on the stick. The urgency in his voice scaring her. Scaring all the kids. The serious expression on his face, dissuaded them from thinking of it as a joke.

And then they all heard it.

BANG

A noise so loud it left their ears ringing. They flinched as they heard the sound, closing their eyes in surprise and shock. The wind rushed past them.

As their eyes opened, Gregori had disappeared.

One second he was next to them. The next, he was gone.