Forge of worlds - League of legends fanfic

Chapter 38 - Final

Ezreal had not returned. Even with the first rays of light dooming from the horizon Kai'Sa did not catch a single glimpse of him. She wondered if she had scared him off in any way, or that something had happened to him. No matter how desperately she wanted to go out and find him, to aid him if he were in danger, she knew there was nothing left for her to do than wait. If it had taken her friends three days until they had perished, she should give Ezreal the same amount of time before she would wander off back to her own land. No matter how much it would sadden her to lose such a dear friend and a possible love interest, she had no time to spare and stay behind waiting for someone who could be six feet under. Her fist clenched on to the blankets she had wrapped around herself as she sat on the night stand, glaring over the terrain, hoping for his golden locks to appear from one promised direction, minutes, perhaps hours went by without a hint of him. She sighed, the chill of the window glass cooling down her temple as she kept staring, her eyelids blinking hesitantly, still deciding whether to sleep or stay awake for the off chance of him returning. 

The portals doomed before his eyes, one by one, each that was similar to the memory when he went through to end up hovering in the pocket dimension. But to his and all the other guardians that were gathered before the empty space where was supposed to be the portal. Ahri's tails were raised out of frustration, her pink nails almost piercing through the palms of her hands. 'He said that the portal was in this direction, right there, but I'm not seeing anything!'
Janna hovered closer to the enraged fox and placed both her hands on her shoulder to cast her soothing winds over the leader. 'I'm sure there has to be an explanation. Ezreal wouldn't leave without us.'
'Yeah right, he's probably off to defeat Zoe all by himself. He's doing this so we miss out on all the fun!' Jinx raised her canon over her shoulder and directed it in the direction where the gate was supposed to be. Ezreal stared shocked before him as he gazed into the emptiness, the portal he swam through once he had entered was gone now. Only now did the group notice his presence and turn around to ask questions to where the infamous door was, but he ignored every single question mark that was thrown at him. Instead he stared in wonder and reached out his hand to grasp for the door that used to be there, to his surprise the tips of his fingers were pressed against an invisible wall. Just like in the first pocket dimension was this one concealed with a wall. The pink eyes of Ahri gazed at him in wonder as he refused to answer to any of his questions, she even attempted to keep him on his spot when he hovered from the group and pointed his gauntlet in the direction of the gate. Rakan's eyebrows were raised as he began to understand what his intentions were, so he wrapped his hands around Ahri's wrist and pulled her away from the explorer. There was no time to be spent for a thanks, he smiled gently to the guardian and summoned Yuuto to take position. With his thumb and index finger resting on the string he pulled is towards him, the power he currently possessed sustained him enough to blast an opening so his entire team could leap through. He feared that his barrage would go through the portal itself and possibly hit either Xayah or Zoe. His teeth bit on the corner of his lip and he drew for a last deep breath as he gathered his strength and released a true shot to break down the invisible wall. The other guardians widened their eyes when he let go and Yuuto was launched in a direction they thought to be the void, that turned out to be a facade to keep the others away. The wall crumbled like sand before the wind and opened the gate that was directly connected with Zoe, where they heard the grunts and clashing of metal with dark matter. None stood still once the gate was revealed. Neeko grasped onto Ezreal and pulled him in to the real realm and everyone, except for Sarah and Soraka, stood tall, right behind the trickster, who flew towards Xayah to deal a lethal strike, if it had not been for Rakan to cover her and shield her from the damage. The couple looked at each other in awe and almost captivated by their reunion, but even they knew that there simply was no time left to be wasted. Zoe stood in the centre as she stared in shock to how every single guardian stood circled around her, old faces, new faces and faces that used to be part of her team. Her eyes stared in Sona's direction, who had spread her wings and gazed at her, seemingly grown tired of the whole setting.
'Well, it seems my plan did not go as well as I had hoped.' Though she knew defeat was likely, there still was something ominous about her that drew fear in everyone's veins. 'But ah well, I should have known I wouldn't have gotten anywhere with those idiots.' Xayah and Rakan squinted their eyes, knowingly she was just out to get under their skin, but this time Xayah did not budge at a single one of her comments and instead drew a whole fan of feathers, waiting for a sign of the others. Rakan looked at her in pride to see how well she managed the situation and rested his hand on the edge of his wing, They were not going to repeat their actions before Ezreal had joined them. When Zoe saw no way out of the battle and had used quite some resourced to be kept busy by Xayah, she summoned one of her portals to disappear once more, if it were not for Syndra who simply raised her hand and clenched her fingers into a fist to close the gateway to her pocket dimensions. Though most had a smile on their face, praising whatever god they had in mind, Ahri was the only one to make the judgement since it was her team who suffered the most. Her heels clacked against the stone floor, crossing the distance that was set in between them. 'Every guardian deserves a home and smile, even those that lost their path and fell for corruption,' Though her words were aimed for Zoe, the duo that still stood surrounded around the trickster looked away for a second. 'I've been judged for my vastayan roots and my actions, yet it made me fit to lead the others in this group. Do you really want to spend your entire life making others miserable when it's already difficult fighting off the dark star?'
Zoe raised her top lip out of disgust thinking of purification after all that she had caused and been through. 'I'd do it all over again if you turn me back to my original form. This time, I wouldn't hesitate on killing my team. Your guys' view on this whole group is twisted, thinking it's just about stardust and cuteness, when we have to accept for our fallen guardians.' Sona, Syndra and Janna gasped, that little bit of sound gave away that Kaisa was not the only one who had perished in this fight as a guardian.  'Urgot it back, in a new vessel. I've found him myself and once I get near him, he will destroy your team out of-' But her words fell silent when Ahri curled her tails in a heart and blew dust in her direction that took over her senses and made her grow warm and accustomed to the situation.
'We can't allow her to be a guardian any more. She'll turn evil over and over again. Strip her of her oath, Lux.' Ahri's words were cold and distant, she had more than enough of her rebellious behaviour and turned her back to the last, fallen guardian. Sona and Lux looked in each other's direction, both uncertain of what they should do next. They could not imprison her, as she would just use any portal that was at her disposal. Everyone knew that Ahri's judgement was clear and the only way, the only humane way to go than to destroy her. But there was little the light knew of how to wield her authority over the guardians.
'Ahri, I'm not sure how-'
'Unlike me you can break the oath everyone has made. You will have to gather all of your strength and release it onto the bond she promised.' All eyes were set on Lux, who stood anxiously as she stared in Zoe's direction. For a second she glanced towards Ezreal to see if she could get strength from him one more time. There was not a single feeling left for her than friendship he held for anyone in the group, but that did not mean he could not help her any more. The explorer walked in her direction, the closer her reached her presence, the more of a blue aura had spread around him. It did not take long before the other gathered near her, the others that held the same aura as their objective colour. Lux was determined everything would succeed and she raised her sceptre, it hovered before her and circled a few times, slowly. The speed of spinning increased, star dust spat from every direction, containing the energy of the entire team. Zoe widened her eyes and tried to summon one more portal, but it was of no use, Syndra's authority was dominant over hers. She tried to run, it was to no avail as Lux had collected all of her strength and released the power that was kept inside of her to shine upon Zoe, to burn away the darkness and the oath she swore to protect the galaxy. The child flinched in pain, screaming loudly as she was stripped of everything but the being she actually was: the aspect of twilight. Her presence among the others disappeared, as she no longer fit to their universe and returned to her own. Lux drew a breath of air and looked at Lulu, Jinx, Janna and Poppy in great joy. From the corner of Ezreal's eye he caught the glimpse of Soraka and Sarah walking into their direction, Sarah who was recovered from her fatal wounds after they both had been infused with Kaisa's last drop of power. To his surprise he also caught Ahri standing with Xayah, Neeko and Rakan, they too had their victory to celebrate, even though she did not feel like it to be in the same surroundings as Xayah, scared that she would only harm the last bit of bond they had left. Everyone looked up when even she had buried the hatch and closed her arms around the neck of her leader to forget about everything. Ezreal looked away as he wished to see Kai'Sa, who waited long enough for him to return. There was not anyone he wanted to thank or congratulate on their victory, instead he did what he was best at: Leaving without a single trace of him.

After everything, there was nothing he wanted than run a bath and soak in it. He had no desire to be anywhere else but home to recover from the entire battle. His muscles were soar and his mind stuffed with images and memories of how Kaisa faded before his eyes and how he would see the original Kai'Sa once again. He was aware that she would probably be worried that he was gone for a night. A deep sigh made him close his eyes for a split second, that split second where he let his guard down resulted in him being pounced and held to the ground. A weight, not heavy enough to keep him down, pressed on him and two arms were wrapped around his neck. He opened his eyes to be welcomed by big, lavender pupils that stared at him in disbelief. Kai'Sa looked at him as if she did not believe he would return, when he had been gone just for the night. 'Kai'Sa?'
She shook her head as if to break her trance and cupped his cheeks in her warm hands. 'I didn't think you would make it back.'
Ezreal could not help but to laugh when he were stunned for a second. He sometimes forgot of her past, how many people she probably had lost before she were burdened with her second skin. 'Please, you can't get that easily rid of me.'
Kai'Sa smiled and pulled him in closer to plant her lips on his, a kiss that was both to make sure he was really there. While it was meant to be just a simple peck he closed her hand around her elbow and drew her back in to deepen the kiss. He had to see her disappear once again and though in the past he would have been traumatized by the sight, deep down he knew that she too was someone who would not easily go down, unless she would allow it to happen. She knew the true meaning of survival, she would not simply risk her own life because she was more capable to get rid of the void than anyone else. Kai'Sa blushed when he leaned back to take one more look on her face. His smile that could not be more serene and happy.
'So... how many more times are you going to disappear?'
Ezreal shook his head and brushed a strand of dark hair out of her sight. 'I'm not going anywhere, whatever I was dealing with is hopefully over now and I have no intention to go back for a long, long time.'
Kai'Sa smiled happily and leaned in to rest her forehead against his, a deep sigh that rolled over her tongue. 'So, what's our next plan?'
Ezreal looked at her in wonder, usually he'd come up with something or head into a direction, for once he didn't mind sitting still and doing nothing. For a split second he wondered what was the best thing to do in a situation like this. After memories of seeing her fade not once, he knew what seemed the best to do right now. 'I'd love to get to know my girlfriend a bit more and stay here for a week or two, after that we'll go looking for your father.'
Kai'sa blinked a few times out of surprise to the words and leaned back, a smile that brightened her face. 'Girlfriend? You never asked me though?'
Ezreal raised one of his eyebrows and drew his lips from another. 'Kai'Sa, do you-' But he broke out in a chuckle when she brought an halt to his words by another kiss. Whatever might lay ahead of him, it did not matter as long as she were here.

She created a home for him he was not able to make himself, one that was with him whenever she was around.