Chapter 31 - Epilogue - War

The days were hot in Noxus, but despite the sunlight illuminating everything, Noxus still seemed to be bathed in countless shadows, just like its freezing, bleak night.

The cells where the slaves were kept were dirty, smelly and filthy. Rats ran through the bars and through all the filth of that abandoned place.

But they would pay, for everything they did to me and all the people of every nation they made suffer.

Demacia had entered into the agreement, as had Freljord. The siege was closed for the black pieces of that chess, Noxus would crumble, Zaun's collaborators too, at least, that was our belief, but let's not be childish, that would never happen.

There are wars that are necessary, no matter how complicated they are to fight, it was necessary, we needed to free ourselves from the invisible bonds of the flowers that took root in the underworld and pulled our arms and legs to the ground, keeping us fixed and tearing our eyes with their thorns, preventing us from looking clearly at the greatness of his wickedness. The Black Rose was the evil of the world, and we knew it didn't just flourish in Noxus.

Tomorrow would be the day, everything was as planned for the last few years.

Days on end looking for information, camouflaging us among trees that had ears even common villagers who only sold their livelihood.

I would challenge Draven in the slave massacre this day. The executioner never let the opportunity of seeing a good fight aside, he loved to admire the carnage that circus bread provided, and the people also did not deny a good bloodletting. I would rip your head off and lay you on your filthy throne, bathing you in your rotten blood.

Syndra was in charge of confronting Swain, she was one of the only ones of us who had a power as great as his. But most of all, we feared for Syndra, she was still a very pure being, and Swain was a master of mind games, I prayed that everything would go as expected, and I asked the gods to make Irelia protect her above all like he had promised, the old crow was treacherous.

To think she wanted to take up our cause was crazy, but she was willing, she swore she would protect Syndra with her life.

We will never know why she became a faithful devotee of our Dark Sovereign, but if she needed something to move her forward, if she needed a goal that would help her grow, we would support as long as she didn't harm us after all. Irelia's strength was undeniable, her skills were great, and before a woman frustrated and destroyed, she was an accomplished warrior.

Since the day Katarina sent me that letter, everything had turned upside down. My hair turned green for a while and then we threw ourselves headlong into rebellion.

Vi was quick to show his support, months later Talon sent us a crow with another message, bringing us valuable information that only proved that the Black Rose was active.

And from the small facts and discreet details that Ezrael discovered in his explorations, it didn't take him long to help us forge an alliance with Demacia. And even reluctantly, the people of ice, a few years later, decided to support our cause. Freljord was a force we were going to need in this war.

It had been months since I had seen, touched, or smelled my beloved, but we knew that all this time we were apart, it would be worth it, it was for the greater good.

I reflect on the end of everything, after all, the real end will only come when death knocks on my door.

And in my thoughts, I will only stop loving Yasuo when that day comes. Suffering exists, pain exists, but being together, we will know how to overcome everything.

And as an irony of fate, we now had a daughter. Not by blood, nor legally adopted, she was a daughter by heart.

We found in Jinx, and she in us, the security and family we needed.

Yasuo and I knew the chances of having a child were slim, let's face it, we were both lovers of confusion. After joining Zed and Shen, Yasuo smiled with every mission he returned, he loved feeling useful for his nation, for his homeland.

But then again, he loved the quiet of his library, and the scrawny old Zilean loved having him there too.

And even after starting this whole operation, Yasuo shared his rare free time with me and Jinx, but also with the moths and dusty shelves of that basement that was called the library.

The days passed quickly, the anxiety of ending this war in the underworld seemed promising, generating a delicious butterflies in my stomach.

But we couldn't be naive, we knew that even getting rid of the supposed main minds, there would still be more, there always was. The bad would always exist, even within the best people, the bad was part of life.

Now it was enough for us to raise our heads and start the fight against this bunch, who used their bad for the worst possible proposals.

I ask the gods to bless me in this fight, that the light prevails under the darkness, that we can correct the mistakes of the past and move on, loving, smiling, fighting and living.

Seeing the light from the arena blinding my eyes made me shiver, I was anxious, my muscles tensed, those chains made of old iron would no longer hold my strength, my aura vibrated inside me, the time had come that we've been waiting for so many months, days in sleepless nights and stormy nights.

It was the day of the dawn of the new peace, it was the day the rebellion began, and I counted on each of my loved ones for every assigned task, and I asked, with all my strength, that at the end of it all, I just might to go home and have a cup of tea with my family, even though I knew that in the following days we would continue fighting.

But what kept me going was knowing that there were no more regrets, that to die you just have to be alive.

So every minute, every second, every sensation and moment; they matter, and with that in mind, I'm going to step into this arena, and rip the head off of Draven the executioner.