Moving on

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Hello everybody! Manager here. Let me clear up a few things before the start of the novel. As of mid 2024, the lore for league of legends has not received any major updates. Popular belief for why it hasn't received any major updates is due to the writers all moving to the MMO. 

Anyways, what I need to make clear is that Arcane is now cannon. Lots of things are different and I aim to not push my story towards Piltover or Zaun until after season 2 comes out. Since that is one of the major ways for the lore to progress as of now.

Second, I will try to follow accurate timelines for the most part of the story. Therefore, most lore events will happen at their respective points in time. But there will be changes with character ages and the way certain events happen.

Finally, I ask for any reader (both new and old to the IP) to watch the short cinematic which serves as the inspiration for this story. Titled : Annie:Origins. Things will not be following the cinematic but it is easier for immersion and understanding.

P.S. The main character doesn't have the same origins as that of the original universe and is an AU version of the story, events will change to suit the story.

P.P.S. Average chapter word count will be around 2k maybe more if I don't pay attention. (Ignoring this starting monologue.) 

P.P.P.S. This story should come out before Arcane Season 2. Split Skies will also be returning as Arcane starts (I've only got a backlog of 10 chapters).

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Surrounded by mountainous lands and thick vegetation,

A man is seen walking up a path. A path that led to his quaint little home. Over his shoulders, he carried a large sack with supplies that would easily last a week. An axe hung by the left side of his hip.

For chopping wood or for protection? That couldn't really be answered. The Ironspike Mountains were dangerous, sometimes.

Being sandwiched between both Noxus and Freljord was unfortunate but he had grown to love this place. His wife had wanted to live here and after all, his child had been born here.

Crossing a little bridge over the creek, he made his way to the entrance of his house. He reached for the handle but stopped. He wanted to make sure of something before he entered.

Slowly, he made his way to the side of his house and peered through the windows. In front of the crackling fire place, sat his daughter.

Awake?

Awake.

He took a deep breath, willing forth energy within his exhausted self. She was awake and playing with Tibbers.

He walked back to the door, tip-toeing to not alert the child. Holding the handle to the door he prepared himself once more.

"I'M BACK!!!!" He proclaimed as he pushed the door open, a wide smile on his face. The voice echoed through the trees outside, but he could care less. 

"DADDY!" Came a yell in response, followed by a little thud and the shuffling of little feet. Witnessing the face of her father, the little girl ran up to the man and jumped at him, the doll still clutched in her arms.

The man turned toward his right as he caught the child with his right and held her up using his hip to support her.

Gregori Hastur had experienced a lot. A lot. But nothing was as difficult as raising a child. And he had to do it alone as well.

He used his free left hand to remove the axe and hang it on the wall. After which, he lifted his daughter with both hands and held her up high.

"Waaaaaa!" And then came the giggles. Pulling the child into a hug, he rubbed his beard against her face, eliciting struggles from the child.

"AHH scratchy scratchy! No!"

He carried her to the chair rocking back and forth, the same one his daughter was sitting on. Setting down the sack, Gregori sat down on the chair and set his daughter on his lap, the entire time she hadn't let go of him.

Leaning onto the chair he asked, "Did my firefly have fun today?"

"Un."

Came the reply along with rapid nodding. His daughter, Annie, snuggled up to him, pushing her head into his chest.

To buy supplies he needed to travel a bit. All the way to the Noxian settlement of Delverhold. A round trip usually took a few hours and today he had let his daughter stay at home in order to do something more sensitive.

 "Tibbers isn't listening to me daddy." His daughter said as she played with the bear.

"Why Tibbers! That is not how a good bear should behave. Look at Annie, see how she listens to her daddy? Be like her okay?" Gregori said, feigning surprise in the beginning and then changing to a more supportive tone.

"Hehe Tibbers, see! Be like me! Daddy also says I'm a good girl see!"

Tucking his chin inwards, he focused on Annie's hair. He sported a weary smile now, the energy visibly depleting. Annie would get tired soon anyway. It was a miracle how she hadn't fallen asleep yet. She had been awake since dawn. He had played with her for hours before leaving as well.

He slowly rubbed Annie's back.

 Annie's hair reminded him of her. Amoline Hastur nee Kiosar. His wife. Frankly, he still believed that she was too good for him. He did not deserve her or Annie. And what he wouldn't do for the three of them to be a family again.

But life was not always good to him, every blessing preceding a curse. A year after Annie's birth, both him and Annie had fallen ill. Extremely ill. He was somewhat awake throughout the ordeal and though he was in bed, he heard his wife doing something. A ritual. He had guessed it would be some magic to ease their daughter's pain and cure her illness. Annie had been burning up, not the temperatures a normal fever would have but way beyond that. She had tried rubbing Annie down with towels dipped in the ice cold stream outside but it had not led to any reduction in the temperature.

Suddenly, she burst into the room Gregori laid in. He tried moving his body to talk to his wife. But he couldn't, he was trapped in his own body unable to move. No words came out despite him intending to speak. He had felt powerless, as powerless in ways he hadn't been in years.

His wife leaned onto him and planted a kiss on his head and laid her head on his chest, facing him.

"Greg. Love. Take care of our daughter for me okay? I love you. I'm sorry."

Never in his life had he expected to hear those words. He yelled. Screamed inside his mind. To move. To help his wife. To stop her from doing something dangerous. But there was nothing he could do.

He heard his wife walk down to his daughter and start chanting. And then he heard yelling. Then silence.

He stayed trapped. Fearing for when he would regain control over his body.

And a few hours later, he fully awoke to the crying of his child. The sounds of his child crying had somehow freed him from this state.

He didn't know how he had fallen into that state in the first place. His daughter had caught his finger and refused to let go as she slept. And then he felt something hot and he found himself in that state.

But the cries of his child had awoken him. He rushed out of the bedroom and ran toward the cot, bumping and bashing into the different furniture. He picked up his daughter and held her up to his shoulder, slowly patting her back, lulling her back to sleep. As he did that, he searched for his wife. He found nothing except for a ring of runes on the ground around Annie's crib, most of which had been smudged as he fumbled about.

But he could make out a couple of things from the runes.

Fire.

Child.

Protect.

And finally one of the runes were half erased but he could read a little of it,

Tybal-

What? That didn't seem like any normal magic.

Gregori the Gray not the greatest mage in Noxus but he was among the better ones and he couldn't quite put a finger on what the rune was able to do. The only reason he was feared, was because he was just as strong physically as he was magically. His family had seen to that.

It didn't take him much to guess that his daughter was only safe because of his wife's ritual. And he also guessed that his wife died as she cast the spell.

She wasn't the type to leave her family. She was headstrong, brave, quick tempered and sometimes made rash decisions but she would never betray him or their child. She had no where else to go either way, since the both of them made the decision to escape Noxus and move away. We didn't escape too far, but no one would come looking for us here. Freljord was too close and served as a deterrent for most Noxians.

'Take care of our daughter for me okay? I love you. I'm sorry.'

And if anything those words just proved her death. But for a final test, he prayed to the one god who he knew would respond. And the response hurt him.

Lulling his daughter to sleep, he let out tears. Crying silently, so as to not wake his daughter, she needed the rest.

The only other thing he had seen different was the bear Amoline had knit for Annie, in the crib. Tibbers she had named it.

He just hoped that Amoline had met the Lamb. She didn't deserve the Wolf.

Annie's rhythmic breathing on his chest woke him from his thoughts. She had fallen asleep. He thought about moving her to the bed but decided against it, she found his chest comfortable and he did not want to wake her up lest to incur the cries of the child. Furthermore, this chair was Amoline's favorite. After he had told her this, Annie spent hours on the chair. She wanted to eat, play and sleep on it or at least near it.

He had to tell her about the decision he would be making and he had to ease her into it. She was a child after all and a change like this might not be what she wants. But she needed it.

Originally, he had planned to tell it to her as soon as he reached home, but as he journeyed back he decided against it. Just like her mother, Annie was quick to anger and just like her, she was just as understanding.

Gregori slowly rocked the chair. Staring into the fireplace, watching the fire dance and the embers flicker.

Huh? Did he leave the fire burning as he left for Delverhold?

A dangerous mistake. 

He needed to make sure that didn't happen again. Leaving a child unattended near a fire was a recipe for disaster. Its not like his house would be extremely cold, winter would come in a month or two, but the magic in place that would keep the house moderately warm all year round.

Leaving the child alone did not bother him at all. He and Amoline had enchanted the place well enough. The illusion spell would keep most creatures away and even if someone made it past the spell, most experienced mages would, the defensive spells set up around the house would prevent them from actually breaking in and damaging anything. After Amoline passed, in paranoia, Gregori buffed up the spells.

For now, his daughter was the safest child in the world.

His daughter snuggled closer into him, the rocking motion probably helped her calm further.

Despite being asleep, one hand clutched onto his clothing while the other had a firm grip on Tibbers. Annie was extremely attached to the doll, playing with it, speaking with it. Gregori would be lying if he said that he didn't have an emotional connection to the doll, it was his wife's last gift. But it was nowhere near the connection Annie had with the doll.

That was the issue.

Annie had no one but the doll and him.

Growing children needed more human interaction. Gregori did not want his daughter growing up to be a reclusive introvert. She shouldn't be talking to a doll all day, hence, he planned something and acted upon it and had received positive results.

Due to the Noxians taking over the Delverhold, there was a sudden influx of people moving to the Ironspike Mountains. Vagrants, refugees, vagabonds they all came here. And settlers started populating the place. Considering the living conditions in Freljord and the constant warring from Noxus, this place was like a reprieve from everything happening around them once its former rulers surrendered. 

And coincidentally, everyone set up shop in and around Delverhold. Travelers and settlers, everyone made their way to Delverhold. Money had to be made somehow. The former kingdom's money making methods changed from mining the ore rich mountains to a more trading focused one, though mining was still done but only to provide Noxus with more weapons in its grand conquest. But that also changed. Now, it was a grand mixture of both, mining and trading.

And that was where Gregori met a woman. Leanna Arrar. Leanna was like him. Both had lost their significant others. Both were singlehandedly raising their children. Despite just having moved to the mountains, Leanna worked as hard as possible, all while raising Daisy. She was beautiful, not in the normal sense, but in a way that he could not easily explain. It had been five years since Amoline had passed and despite never forgetting her, he had to move on. Not only for himself but also his daughter.

Leanna seemed to share a similar sentiment. And as time passed, the two got together. Annie and Daisy enjoyed each other's company as well.

The two parents fit each other's criteria as well. Annie needed a mother. Daisy needed a father. And the both of them needed a playmate of a similar age.

And so this trip had been to finalize that idea. The prospect of them getting together for both their children and to move on from the past. Yes, they were not replacements to their earlier counterparts but the two of them were willing to accept the other.

It was a combination of both love and a contract. Not the ideal situation for a family but it was needed for the children in their formulative years.

Leanna questioned it at first but quickly made her decision. She said that she would convince her daughter easily. In Gregori's interactions with the woman, he figured she would just tell it to he daughter straight, she was quite the headstrong type. Now all he had to do was make Annie understand and accept it. 

He loved the child. He really did. But raising her took a lot out of him. Every day ended in exhaustion. But he would not have it any other way. Scratch that. He would like it if it was just a little easier.