"Consequences only matter if I don't get away."~ Rakan, The Charmer
Did you enjoy the last chapter?
Also guys new Darkin leaks for the new champ (According to Necrit and others). And lots of lore drops. I will have to try to combine it all. And the weapon is a Glaive.
If you have noticed, there are weapons of the Darkin that already exist. Both Caalyx and his brother have weapons that are reused. But they are different in the sense that the weapons look different and are used for different purposes.
Also, this First Shield and its members are cannon from the book: Garen: First Shield.
Also give me a nickname for Briar, all I can come up with is Bloody Baby for some reason.
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"So how did you end up with the Avarosan tribe?" A member of the First Shield asked as they sat around as a group, her name was Saskja Vos.
The members of the First Shield, Gregori and his children, Poppy and Eileen.
Gregori looked up as he kept feeding his children. One bite to each of them and they crowded next to him like chicks going to their mother bird. "Ah... When my home was attacked by a Noxian warband, Daisy had a life-threatening event happen to her." He smiled at his daughter. "As a result of that, her Iceborn nature awakened." He looked back at Saskja. "And without True Ice... her survival would not be guaranteed. Without hesitation, I carried her all the way to Avarosa for help."
His account got a few approving looks from the group. Merrek seemed the most impressed with him.
"The kids are all of similar ages..... different mothers then?" Rurik Vos asked.
"Rurik!" Saskja called out her twin enraged at his abrupt questioning.
"Its fine." Gregori chuckled. "You don't need to of the same blood to be family." His face darkened a little, "From my experience..... sometimes..... blood makes you easy to betray." Immediately after, he corrected, "Only in some extreme cases." As he looked to the twins.
But his facial expression did not go unnoticed.
"Bad relationship with your family?" Eben Hess asked.
Gregori nodded.
Eben Hess raised his glass to him, "I have been there myself. No drama worse than family drama."
"Aye." Gregori raised his own glass.
"Daddy?"
His focus shifted from the glass in his hand to Faye. "Yes fairy?"
"Are we staying here for the night?" She asked innocently.
Gregori considered the question, "Can we?" He asked Garen.
Garen contemplated a second before answering, "Of course we'll have a tent ready for you in no time."
"Thank you for the offer but we have our own tent and we can set it up pretty quickly." Gregori answered.
"With magic?" Merrek asked, not in order to out their capability for magic but out of genuine curiosity.
The group frowned but Garen looked contemplative.
Gregori waved him off. "There is no need to use magic. My children and I can have it done after than any magic can hope to achieve." He looked toward them with a soft smile, "And it is a good way to spend time with them."
"Have you travelled a lot?" Cithria asked. "I haven't been outside the reaches of Demacia."
"Daddy's traveled the whole world!" Briar exclaimed. "He is going to take us to the sea!"
Gregori chuckled, not minding the interruption. "I will Briar. I will." But then he corrected her, "I haven't really traveled everywhere, Bilgewater and Ionia are still unchecked in my travel plans."
Eileen suddenly looked very interested. "Well traveled huh?"
"Of course." Gregori answered.
Kriel looked at the group and asked no one in particular, "Are you all mages?"
Sydell, Daani and Annie shook their heads. "Daisy isn't a mage."
"The rest of you can do magic?" He asked.
Nods from the group.
Gregori just watched on mildly amused. He couldn't sense any hostility and the kids needed to interact with others themselves. It would build confidence as well as communication skills that they would require in the future.
"Can you show us something?" Kriel pushed. "I haven't really seen mages do something that wasn't dangerous."
Annie looked at him and raised her hand. "Here." She said as a ball of fire sprouted into existence above her open palm. "Tibbers says I can show you a few tricks."
Kriel look at the fire in awe before thanking, "Thank you Annie and you too Tibbers." He thanked Tibbers thinking it was just the whims of a child and her toy.
Not to be outdone however, Faye raised her hand and the glass Kriel held onto was lifted out of it. He and the others looked at the floating drink in fascination as Faye waved her hand about, just carefully enough to not spill the contents outside.
"I can make things fly." Faye claimed proudly.
"Wow." Saskja exclaimed softly.
That got Faye preening as a wide smile took over her face.
"What can you four do?" Rurik asked the rest.
Daani spoke first, "I can make balls of magic appear." He demonstrated with a small floating ball of concentrated magic. It looked harmless but was quite potent in its damage output. He had also followed the plans he had discussed with his father. To never reveal his true abilities. The others knew this too and did not bother correcting him.
Sydell sighed before answering, "I can climb like a spider and can shoot webs."
"An Ionian?" Rurik asked.
"No." Sydell answered. "Just my magic."
They turned to Rell in anticipation, "Not interested." She answered.
They accepted that reply and didn't force further.
Then they turned to the final member of the group. Briar.
Briar shrugged in reply, "I don't know."
Their eyebrows were raised, "You.... don't .... know?"
She nodded with an innocent smile.
Gregori stepped in, "When I found Briar, her magic was out of control and dangerous. It is sealed now and she cannot use it until she grows older."
Garen looked extremely interested, hopeful even, "You can seal magic?"
Gregori shook his head. "Not all magic. Briar was a special condition."
Garen's face fell.
"I wouldn't recommend sealing magic however, it would lead to problems." Gregori looked at the man with a smile, "A relative with magic?"
"Sister..." Garen muttered sadly.
"Does that change how you feel about her?" Gregori asked.
"No!" Garen looked offended. "No. She's my sister, magic or not."
"Then what do you have to worry about?" He questioned. Gregori smiled as he saw Garen's confused expression. "Teach her to control her magic and you have nothing to worry about."
Gregori looked upwards, "If you ask me, Demacia is so afraid of the past that it is not looking at the present. Mages as powerful as the ones in the wars can only be counted on one hand. There are those that have potential, yes. But they most likely would never reach that point in their lives."
"So few of them?" Cithria asked dumbfounded.
Gregori turned to her, "Of course. The war wiped out most of the strong mages and none stronger have been born in recent days."
The group looked like their worldview had been flipped upside down.
Gregori smiled as he pushed further. "Do you know which place has the most powerful mages?"
"Targon?" Merrek guessed.
"Freljord?" Eben guessed.
Eileen looked thoughtful as she guessed, "Shurima?"
Gregori laughed at the guesses. "All wrong!" They looked confused.
"N...Noxus?" Cithria asked fearfully.
"Wrong again." Gregori said. "Any other guesses?" He pointed to Garen. "Give it a try."
Garen sat still for a moment before answering, "Demacia." It wasn't a guess but a statement.
Gregori smiled. "Indeed."
Gasps spread through the group.
"Demacia is surrounded by magic suppressants. " Gregori explained. "And when magic is suppressed for a long time.... He moved his hands closer. "It is concentrated. It becomes stronger. The body adapts to the suppression. When the suppression is removed..." He spread apart his hands quickly, "The magic grows rapidly. Very quick and very volatile."
"This is all true?" Eileen asked. This information was something that needed to be controlled. If word of this got out then the kingdom could face another uprising.
He gave her a sideways look, "Why do you think Noxus has been trying to get their hands on Petricite for the longest time?"
The group looked stunned at the revelation, things were falling into place, their age old questions being answered.
He took a sip of the drink in his cup. "Which was why the uprising was as devastating as it was. All of those awakenings in a short period of time was a disaster waiting to happen. And Sylas?"
The group tensed as he said the name.
"Sylas was shackled with pure Petricite. You can only imagine the power that exploded out." Gregori spoke. "But he still wears his shackles. You might think it is a show of power or it is him making a statement. But I faced him in battle.... he is a novice, powerful but arrogant. He has no experience and most importantly.... no control. And there is more magic inside him, magic he is holding back with those very shackles that held him."
The group listened to him with rapt attention.
"Is this the truth?" Garen asked. His worldview was shattered with the revelation.
"It is."
"The Kingslayer was holding back?" Eileen whispered. She had witnessed the explosions the man caused around the capital.
"Yes and no." Gregori answered.
"No?"
"Well..." He contemplated telling them this but it could turn the tides of this upcoming conflict. "Yes, he was holding back and no he is not a Kingslayer."
Garen exploded, "He killed the king!"
"Was there a witness?" Gregori asked.
"Yes!" Garen claimed. "One of the Captains saw the murder happen in front of him."
Gregori frowned. "Who was it?"
"What?" Garen asked confusedly.
"Who saw the murder?" Gregori repeated.
"Captain Jaredan." Garen answered.
"Well I have personally talked to the real assassin and I can tell you for certain that this Jaredan has lied." Gregori revealed.
As the words left his mouth a claymore found its way to his throat.
"What do you mean?" Garen said as his sword pointed at this enigma of a man in front of him.
Gregori eyes lazily looked around spotting all the weapons aimed at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his children tensing. "Relax children.... nothing will happen."
He faced Garen, "When the warband killed my wife.... she was with child."
Garen's blade shook at those words.
"I wanted revenge." Gregori spoke. "After ensuring Daisy was safe, I left for Demacia, calling every favor owed to me in order to end the warband and the one who sent them."
"One of my favors led me to meet this woman." Gregori looked Garen in the eyes, "You might remember her. A woman. Beautiful. Red hair. Scar on her eye?"
Garen nodded, his sword dropping.
"She was an assassin forced into a mission by the Grand-General of Noxus that would guarantee her death." Gregori spoke. "Sylas breaking out was the coincidence that she needed to escape alive."
"But she saved my sister...." Garen muttered.
Gregori smiled. "That was the issue. She saved one of her targets."
The group's faces turned to him in shock, their weapons slowly falling.
"She was to kill both the king and one Luxanna Crownguard." Gregori shrugged. "But she saw the innocence in your sister and saved her instead that got her into a lot of trouble."
Garen sat back down defeated, his sword falling to the ground.
"So.... we have been chasing an innocent person the whole time?" Eileen spoke softly.
Gregori shook his head, "Innocent of killing the king sure, but not of the others in his grand attack on the capital."
Eileen straightened up, "We cannot let this spread to the people." She looked toward Garen who refused to meet her gaze.
"That isn't what is important." Gregori cut in. Garen looked upwards at him. "What's important is this Jaredan fellow. He lied. Why would he do that?"
The group contemplated for a second before Saskja replied, "We have no idea."
"Either he had something to gain from lying or...." His eyes darkened, "Or he is a Noxian spy."
The group sobered up immediately.
"But I would like to test that out myself." Gregori leaned back. "I have a plan."
"What makes you think we would follow your plan?" Eileen stated.
Gregori shrugged. "My plan would guarantee his capture if he was a spy."
The group fell into silence.
"Daddy?" Briar interrupted.
"Yes Briar?"
"Can we sleep?" She asked.
Gregori stood up and patted the grass off his pants, "Of course Briar." He turned to the rest of the kids, spotting the tired eyes. "I'll set up the tent. You lot just rest."