On The Count Of Four: Zed

One The Count Of Four: Zed

This One-Shot is dedicated to my best friend TheDarkAngelReader whose birthday is today. This is basically his birthday gift as Zed X Shen is his all time favorite ship. Hope you enjoy my dear <3

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The golden sun slowly withdrew behind the massive Ionia mountains, illuminating the valley with its fiery colors for one last time before the moon would take over. Shen starred at the sunset, unable to feel the last warmth the sun provided for that day.

His eyes glowed under the dying sun, though he wasn't looking at anything in particular. His body was there but his mind was traveling somewhere else, far away from the cruel world he lived in.

As the darkness prevailed, the cold night air breathed through his hair, sending a shiver down his spine. It felt as if he whispered at him from the shadows, calling him over, but Shen knew that he wasn't here anymore. He let out a sigh.

The Eye of Twilight looked up at the moon, and ironically enough, it didn't bring any comfort to his shaken soul. Despite all odds, he had been feeling like this for a while now, since Zed, the Master of Shadows, his nemesis, had dropped dead.

The logical thing was to feel relieved, not to be overcome with grief. But Shen knew perfectly well that without Zed, the balance would be disturbed, bringing upon great chaos. However, it wasn't his main concern. Without Zed, he didn't have much of a purpose. For over a decade, he had been at the assassin's track, always changing after him to stop whatever malicious plan to obtain more power. Each battle with Zed was something else, something more dangerous and little by little, Shen had preety much gotten addicted to them, his system asking for more after every encounter with Zed. He had a stable purpose; defeat Zed, even if that meant to kill his childhood friend, the friend who murdered his father and went against him. Their destiny was to fall by the others' blade. But it never happened like this.

He couldn't forget how he had found Zed's mask laying down on the dirt, covered in blood. He had kneeled down and picked it up, looking at it intensely, as if Zed's red eyes would suddenly re-appear behind the mask. But they never did. He secretly wished that the Master of Shadows would return, like he always did, snap the mask out of his grip and laugh at his weakness with his malevolent laugh.

He felt empty and despaired. He couldn't believe it was over in such a tragic way. He was thrown into sorrowing, secretly wishing Zed would appear again to mock him and call him a coward for one more time. But the little voice in his head told him he wasn't going to return. He curled his hands into fists. It wasn't supposed to end like this. It was never supposed to end by a stranger, by someone who wasn't part of their endless dance of blades.

Khada Jhin. That was the name of this curse. Who did he think he was, interfering with destiny's plans? Because of his so-called «art», the balance of the universe had been deranged irreversibly. He was just a nuisance, creative chaos everywhere he went. A physcho, with only purpose to kill with his style.

"I'm going to find you, Khada Jhin," Shen whispered under the Twilight
"And you'll pray that you had never crossed my path."

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He searched every single corner of Ionia, all in the name of balance. Akali, what an innocent child she was, she would never understand. She tried to stop him, saying that this wasn't how the balance was supposed to be maintained. But he didn't listen to her, no. He chose his path, it was the path of vengeance, and she would never know. She didn't need him anyways. She had a good heart and was faithful to the Order. She would fulfill her purpose and Kennen would take good care of her.

And he finally found him. And he was ready to fight him, just like the first time with Zed. The Deja Vu moment... But it was different. This time, Shen was aiming to kill. He stood in front of the Virtuoso, blade ready in his hand. It was his blade against a mask.

"What a foolish man you are, Shen," Jhin said quietly. "You're supposed to be a man fighting to retain balance, not disturbing it."

Shen didn't speak. He remained silent, looking at the man that had changed everything.

"I guess... You couldn't appriciate my art." Jhin continued in the same low tone. He couldn't see it, but Shen felt like he was smirking at him under the mask.

"This was anything but art!" Shen exclaimed in anger. "This was a crime, like countless others you committed. And you're going to pay for every single one of them!"

"I'm afraid we have a very different opinion of what art is, my dear." Jhin shook his head "I'm not fond of trying to persuade you otherwise."

Jhin raised his shotgun and aimed at Shen. "Let the performance begin!" he exclaimed

The Eye of Twilight lowered his knees and dushed forward, swinging his blade dangerously. The only sounds that could be heard in the field their «performance» was given was that of an outraged battle cry of a broken warrior and the shot of an artist.

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