A Search Through Runeterra (Arcane)

"The world forgot me. Now, they will remember!"~Xerath, the Magus Ascendant

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"Now why is it that you did not listen to Eileen?" Gregori asked his children. "She is your aunt and she wants you to be safe."

"Sorry daddy.." Faye muttered with her head hung low.

He lifted her chin with a smile and said, "I am not angry with you fairy. Just afraid. I don't want you to fight. It is too dangerous. A single touch with Petricite and you will not win. Look at Briar. She couldn't move under that block and you know that she is normally strong enough to lift something like that."

She nodded with tears in her eyes.

He turned to the other two, "I got you out and away from Noxus to keep you safe and happy. Not to fight and kill. Once you grow up.... then it is fine. It is your ages that hold you back. Not your skill. You are still children and I want you to remain children." He shrugged, "Well I want you to remain children forever. Small and happy. But that is just the wishes of a father. Just.... for now.... try to be children. You deserve to be children. And I do not want to lose any of you."

He rubbed the heads of Daani and Sydell.

The children looked down. It was the first time their father had spoken to them like this. He had never said anything like this either. He was just there, stalwart and strong.

It was the first time he had looked this vulnerable.

"Please?" Gregori pleaded.

Daani nodded and jumped to hug his father.

The rest of the children weren't to be outdone as they jumped forward to hug their father as well.

Gregori pulled them all into a tight hug. He took a deep breath, inhaling their scent and then placed a kiss on each of their heads.

"I'm glad you all are okay." He whispered.

Pulling away he turned to Eileen and Willa, "Thanks for taking care for my children."

Willa waved him off, "I did not do much. Can't do much either. My old body can only be used to protect them with my own life. Eileen and the children themselves did everything."

Gregori turned to Eileen, "Thank you sister."

Eileen's eyebrows rose. It was the first time he had called her sister instead of just Eileen.

She smiled, "I took responsibility and I still believe that I did not do enough. You never need to thank me Gregori. I like these runts more than you think. I would have done it even if you hadn't asked me to."

Gregori nodded and then reached for her, pulling her into a hug.

Eileen's hands froze for a second before it came around and reciprocated the hug tightly.

She pulled back and then asked seriously, "Now what was that? You were flying. You were bigger. You killed them effortlessly. And what was that sick game you played up there?"

Gregori sighed, "It seemed like I went to far right? But they were sent after my children. Any time I thought of going easy on them..... I thought about whether they would go easy on my children and you two." He then shook his head, "They wouldn't. So I didn't."

"But that doesn't answer the previous questions." Eileen refused to take any deflections from Gregori. "You cannot keep dodging this Gregori."

He sat on the ground and began speaking, "In the war... Sylas stole my magic. He flew with them. I did not even know that I could do it. Afterwards I started to do it myself. Quite handy if I say so myself."

Willa's eyes widened, "Was the letter saying the truth?"

"Letter?"

She nodded and produced it from her clothes. "This one."

Gregori frowned as he took it, "Who sent this?"

"Came with the Crownguard crest." Eileen answered. "A guard delivered it right before."

She frowned for a moment and then turned to Annie, "Also! What is that bear of yours? How is it like that?"

"Tibbers?" Annie asked.

"Are there any other bears I should know about?" Eileen asked in shock. 

Gregori shook his head, "No. Tibbers is one of the remnants of Annie's mother. It is her last gift to her. A protective spirit that is connected to her by blood. It also likes the other kids so it protects them all on command."

"A protective spirit?" Eileen frowned, "It looks more like a demon."

Gregori chuckled. "Of course it does."

"What about this new transformation?" Eileen asked.

"It is just a couple steps below a full transformation." Gregori answered. "It is not a full transformation. That would take too much out of me. I don't have enough in me to do another full transformation for quite a long time now. Around a couple of months at least."

Eileen looked him in the eyes, "What is the cost for this Gregori? I'm looking at you right now. You do not look good. Tell me... What price do you pay every time you transform?"

Gregori looked her in the eyes, and then sighed as he revealed information that wouldn't really affect a lot for him, "Blood." He pointed to himself, "You can see me getting paler. The longer I keep the transformation up..... the more blood I lose. If I lose it all..... then I die. Or I cannot transform back. Ever. And that would still result in me dying."

Willa gasped, "You are playing with death?"

Gregori shook his head, "It makes it easier to think of it like money. You have a certain amount. And you can only spend within that certain amount while leaving enough to live. You spend more than you have.... you die."

"But you are still playing with death." She shot back. "You have to live Titan. Live."

Gregori nodded. "Yes. I will live. There is nothing that can stop that. But this transformation is a necessity. No one else has to bear that burden. It is mine. And in doing so.... I can be sure that I can leave behind a better world for my children."

"The weapons?" She asked.

"Want to start a world ending war." Gregori finished for her. "I need to find and seal them all before that happens. And I cannot fight them without transforming."

"And you are willing to face the entire kingdom?" Willa asked as she looked over all the bodies.

Gregori shook his head, "Demacia cannot do anything against me. Not when I ended their war for them. It was done on the condition that my children would be safe. They weren't. They failed. They cannot retaliate. I could have left these lot alive..... but I have to set a precedent. Men do not learn unless things like this is beaten into them. And Demacia possess the largest amount of stubborn men."

"But all of this..... bloodshed....no... carnage." She corrected herself, "Isn't it too much."

"No." Gregori shook his head, "They attacked my children Willa. No one does that and gets to live."

"You let that one man get away." she pointed out.

Gregori smiled, "That one lived to tell a story. A story of both monster and his children. It is in the principle of fearmongering. If I killed everyone. Then I would just be a ruthless man. But if I let one live..... I am a man to be feared. That act of mercy is only one that lets him live. But it is just a match. One that would spread and burn down the whole forest."

"How did the Petricite fail to stop you?" Eileen asked.

"It has to make contact to stop a mage." Gregori explained. "Magic does not affect it. But Magic can affect the things around it. Take Annie for example, she controls fire. The fire is fueled by magic. But it is still fire. Petricite doesn't affect the fire itself. Just the magic behind it. Prolonged contact would stop the fire in total but in a burst it would not matter. The heat is still real."

"Then how did you move the Petricite block and the sword flying at you." Eileen asked.

Gregori smiled knowingly, "My magic affected the air around it. Not the block and sword directly.

"So our entire ideology is wrong?" Eileen asked clearly taken aback.

"Not really but you haven't' really fought against proper mages in nearly a hundred years." Gregori explained, "That is just a difference in experience. Again. Just a single touch would weaken a mage. Just one. The mage is still in danger. This situation...." He waved around himself, "This is just a result of strong mages against idiots who think they know everything."

Eileen shot to her feet as he finished, "Wait!"

"What?"

"Our parents." She grit her teeth.

"What about them?" Gregori raised an eyebrow.

"They were with us when the place was invaded."

"What happened to them?" Gregori asked intrigued.

Eileen looked angry, "They ran off without us."

"Ran off?"

"Took the escape route." Eileen clarified.

"Interesting." Gregori muttered, "Why were they here?"

"They wanted to bring the children to their home." Eileen answered, "They wanted to get to know their grandchildren. I call bullshit."

"I'll call it along with you." Gregori nodded. He then rose to his feet and asked, "Is there another place to stay? I need to get some food and sleep before they all return."

"I have a place." Eileen said.

Gregori nodded, "Where?"

"My home." Eileen answered. "I moved out of the home as soon as I became a Captain."

"Take us there sister." Gregori spoke.