Unity - Chapter Two
The two stared at each other for a moment, contemplating the other as their new ally. Terunis broke the silence by sheathing his blade. "So...I know the Void is coming...but what information exactly do we have on them, that wasn't given by the Aspects?" he asked blankly. "Plenty." said Deity. "They destroyed Icathia...I knew a fair deal that even Targon could not. Their hunger is unending, and their eyes are set on this world. They wish to devour all worlds...but right now, they seek to make us their next meal." "That's...discomforting. Do you know of a way to stop them?" Terunis was very sure that two Aspects and a few Vastayan tribes were not going to quell the evil he'd seen in his visions and nightmares. "The Vastayans will help...I think by our matching books, that much is the same in both of our timelines." "It is...but we're going to need all the help we can get. I'm certain that two Aspects and a few Vastayan tribes aren't going to quell the evil that's coming for this world." Terunis smirked. I need to remember she's almost the me of another world... he thought to himself. The similarity of what we think is uncanny. "We have a few options." Deity said, breaking Terunis out of his thoughts. "But in order to get them to listen to us, we'll have to intervene in their fighting. Hopefully, without being killed or injured. It'll be difficult."
Terunis knew what she was implying, of course. The Twin Cities...the two great, warring nations of Demacia and Noxus...the several rival tribes, orders and gangs scattered throughout Ionia, the Freljord, and Bilgewater...almost every nation had plenty of its own pressing matters. Trying to get any of them to look into another problem that isn't yet affecting them was no small task. Even Targon itself, who worship the mountain the Aspects came from, were still too concerned of the actions between the Solari and the Lunari to pay them any real heed. Recently, a group of the Lunari risked their lives to flee the Solari, and make their own settlement on the other side of the mountain. The wrath of the Solari has been ferocious, and the Lunari being outnumbered were struggling to keep their settlement alive. The Lunari's leader, however, was a very tenacious one, learning to shield her settlement from the sun by digging caves into the mountain itself, and she provided a strong threat to the Solari in raiding them at night, when their power was waning, but her own was strong. This fight is what Terunis was tasked with ending peacefully, though...the threat of the Void's incursion was nigh. Again, both Aspects came to the conclusion at the same time. "Now that there are two of us..." Terunis said. Deity finished his sentence. "We should unite Targon. They can't ignore us both." They were both already on the same page...nothing more needed said. They each split apart along the summit and looked back at each other, nodding in affirmation. And with that, they both leapt from the cliff, one towards the heart of each tribe's center.
Deity thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of the icy, yet refreshing wind tearing at her body as she dove from the summit. In her Aspect form, both her and Terunis could break the momentum of their fall by mustering the magic to do as such. Deity was sure she'd be the first to reach the ground though. She was ready. Finally, people would have to listen to her words. The exhilaration was so complete, she almost didn't notice the ground swiftly approaching. "Whoops!" she exclaimed, pulsing her magic out before her to dodge some of the jagged edges of the mountain before breaking her fall and landing softly at the base. She began walking towards the place she knew the Lunari had hidden in her world. She let out a sigh of relief. I'm glad so little has changed between these timelines...it'd be very difficult to learn about a completely new one with the threat of the Void breathing down our necks.
She walked for awhile before noticing she was being followed. they're already onto me, then. She thought. She continued about a hundred more paces before stopping and pulling out her waterskin. She took a drink, replaced the cap, and then stuck her arm straight out beside her. "Would you like some? Following me this far must be tiring." She conjured her magic in her other hand, forming and launching a spike of ice that effortlessly intercepted the assailant's thrown hatchet. "I do not wish to fight. I need only to speak with your leader." The Lunari scout was shocked at her ability. "Who are you?!" he shouted. "What is your purpose with Priestess Diana?!" Within the next few seconds, the scout was joined by about a half-dozen Lunari that were tasked with watching the settlement. She was here. Loudly she recanted the words that worked for her passage to speak with the Lunari peacefully in her own timeline. "The Moon Also Rises." The Lunari lowered their weapons, now uttering in confusion to each other. Deity then tilted her arm backwards a little further, offering her waterskin once more to the original scout that followed her. "I come with a warning. All of Targon...no, all of Runeterra must hear the truth."
Diana sat through Deity's tale the same way that she did in her own timeline: unfathomed, and uncaring. Deity couldn't blame her. She had a lot of problems of her own, being leader of the Lunari and having to constantly defend her new home and people from the Solari's heated ire. "I cannot spend any of our resources on your fight." Diana said. "No matter the threat, I cannot spare a soul for as long as the Solari spend their lives trying to eradicate us." "I'm aware of that." Deity said. She needed to choose her next words carefully. "That's why my associate is pleading with them right now for your cause." "WHAT?!" Diana stood, drawing her massive crescent blade in the blink of an eye. "You dare to work with the Solari while sitting in my presence?!" The two guards on duty each drew blades of their own. Deity let out a long sigh. She knew it'd come to this. This is exactly how it happened in her own timeline, albeit there was no "associate" in that one. "Lady Diana, I'm not here to fight you...we wish for a parley between the Solari and the Lunari." Diana's fury shown plainly on her face...then slowly, it faded. "If I agree to this...parley...will you guarantee your assistance should the Solari attempt to eliminate us?" she asked. Her tone clearly carried her irritation and distrust. "You have my word." Deity said. This hadn't happened in her timeline. She was shocked. It seemed that being able to mention an associate instead of proclaiming she was acting alone had a significant impact on her odds. Their odds. She could only hope Terunis had equally good luck. "Let us meet them tomorrow at dusk. Dusk is a neutral ground, and their numbers will mean less that way with night approaching. Does that sound acceptable?" Diana sighed. "I can only hope you keep your end of the bargain. Were you not blessed by the mountain, I'd have executed you here and now." "Let's end this conflict together, milady." Deity managed to muster a smile. She then waved her hand, sending a message along the wind to Terunis, on the other side of the mountain.
Terunis stood in a grandiose, bright hallway before the high priestess of the Solari. The temple of the solstice was a place of worship for most of the Rakkor, and the base of operations for the Solari, who had redoubled their defenses due to their skirmishes with the Lunari. Leona scoffed at the thought of parley with those...heretics. She'd much rather use this as a means to put an end to them all. But with two Aspects requesting they meet and talk, she couldn't just ignore the call. The mountain itself wanted this. "Fine. But if no middle ground should be reached, you will be dealt with as well." Terunis sighed, partly in relief and partly at the stubbornness of the sun worshippers. He'd been trying for hours to simply meet with the priestess, and for hours more to reason with her once she finally agreed to speak with him. "A compromise must come from this. The coming darkness is too great a threat to ignore." "We shall meet with the scum at dusk, as you ask." Leona spat the word, her hatred of the moon-worshippers as clear as the glass of the sunbathed temple's windows. "And when they dare raise their hand against us, our response will be swift." "That won't be-" "Good day." Leona turned and walked away. Well...that could have went more pleasantly... Terunis thought. Then shook his head. At least she actually agreed this time. Now for the hard part.
At dusk, the sects met. Diana and Leona, along with a score of guards, stood facing each other across a flat expanse of ground. Each turned to their right hand, nodding, then to the Aspect they met. Slowly, they made their way to a tent in the middle of the plateau. "So...the heretic dares to show her face." Leona growled. Terunis was uneasy. He looked to Deity, who looked at him bearing his same expression. "The mountain seems to want us to cooperate. I say the mountain wastes its time with you vermin." Diana sighed. "We have our differences, Leona...but if what these two say is true, it's far more than our lives at stake. I wish only for peace, and a place for my people. I can have neither if we all perish. Be it to you, or to this threat." Leona scowled. To her, the very existence of the Lunari was sitting before her, preaching about the moon existing in the same place as her radiant Sun. She wanted nothing more than to end it here...but the moon-worshipper had a point. If this evil was so great that the mountain itself sent them warning, there must be a reason. "Hmph..." she huffed. "Then may your Lunari perish first. I give you the word of the Solari - we will not attack you. But you can perish to this Void before we work alongside your blasphemy."
Deity opened her mouth to speak, but before the could say anything, there was a sudden crash. The tent, from the very center, was demolished, and the table separating the sun and moon priestesses was no more. Instead stood a man, wielding a spear and a round shield, standing on the fabric and debris that used to be their meeting place. Leona, with her massive shield, was the only one not scrambling to react from the impact. She uttered, in her amazement, only one word: "Atreus..." "No warrior should sit idle to a threat. Targon itself calls upon you! Would you, lady of the sun, truly desert this chance for glory?!" The Aspect of War's voice echoed so loudly, even the escorts on each side of the plateau could hear him. "Even the lady of the moon would rise to the challenge, and you'd hide behind her out of spite for their path?! DISGRACEFUL!" Leona's face was one contorted with the frustration of having been humiliated. After a long pause, she looked at the Aspect Pantheon, tears of fury in her eyes. She managed to begrudgingly utter to him "No...we will fight." She wiped her tears before turning to face her rival and the twin Aspects. "I call a truce. You will have the support of the Solari...but mark my words, heathen..." she spat at Diana. "We will settle this after."
After much deliberating, Deity and Terunis agreed that they should leave the Targonians to assemble and prepare under the supervision of Pantheon and their respective leaders. They still had much left to do.
"Terunis...we should split up." Deity said. "We need to cover more ground, and we still need more allies." They stood back before the summit of Mount Targon, the Aspect of War still with them. Terunis nodded blankly. The euphoria of finally uniting Targon was short lived. The mountain itself had called the three of them to the summit, declaring the Void's invasion would take place in a mere year. One year...it took me almost four, and TWO additional Aspects, just to unite Targon. Do we have enough time to even try to gain more help? Little did he know it took Deity almost eight decades, and an alternate timeline to accomplish this. Pantheon seemed to have noticed their doubts. "Fear not, warriors! That emotion brings only defeat." "Heh...thanks..." There was a long pause, then Terunis finally spoke again. "So where do we go from here?"
"Ionia." Deity said confidently. "I think now that we've given the Vastayans time, they'll have impacted the rest of Ionia to listen to us more seriously." "Well...thing is..." Terunis started to talk about how the Ionians weren't so keen on hearing from him anymore, but Deity cut him off. Oh right... he thought. She knows."I will talk to the Ionians. If your timeline is truly this similar to mine, they're probably going to be hostile towards you. Terunis nodded. "Then where should I go?" Deity looked at him for a moment, trying to determine if he was being serious. "You're an Aspect. Go where you think you'll do best. Terunis contemplated for a moment. "I think I should just try to warn a place I've yet to try." He said. "I doubt Bilgewater will listen, but we need to spread our message everywhere. Besides, that island it one of the closest ports to Icathia. If we can secure it as a base of operations, we would have a strong advantage along the water." "Sounds difficult. Bilgewater is definitely not an easy-going place. But you make a fair point." Deity looked concerned, but that concern was quickly replaced with a look of confidence. "Alright then. Good luck"
"Allow us to send you on your way then, heroes." The echoes of the Silver City rippled through the sky but for a moment, an Aspect materializing before them and channeling two portals in front of Deity and Terunis. "May your journeys be fruitful...for the sake of all the land"
"Onward, brave commanders!" shouted Pantheon, who was standing mere feet from them, in a tone that nearly deafened all present. "Leave this place to me." Terunis and Deity exchanged glances, nodded to each other, and each stepped through their assigned portals.
