"I hate to advocate violence and insanity, but it's worked for me."~ Kled, The Cantankerous Caretaker
The final arc, Ionia, begins now.
Enjoy! Leave comments!
I have set the days where I can work from home so I should be able to commit to a viable schedule. And man whatever free time I had over the past few days went into the yearly Minecraft gameplay and the more recent Slay the Spire 2 (Very easy to get lost in this. I've been hours deep into runs before realizing. Great game.)
Also!! One Piece S2 was great. I understand live actions are hard to do but these guys nailed it. My only gripe is that the costumes look too perfect with no wear and tear.
Finally..... STEEL BALL RUN!!!!!! I'm boutta bussssss! Start playing Holy Steel on replay lads.
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Xin Zhao shot up from his bed, his breathing heavy.
"Another dream...." He muttered before lying back down. He stared at the wooden ceiling as the boat slowly rocked forward.
The dreams had been a recent addition.
They had started the moment he boarded the ship leaving to Ionia.
Dreams of his past. Dreams of his actions. Dreams of his regrets.
He often wondered if they were a result of his mind accepting the thought of going back home.
Home.
He hadn't thought of it as that in years. Demacia had become his home. Xin Zhao had only been a child when his fishing boat had entered Noxian waters. The fighting in the pits had changed him from a young fisherman to a Reckoner.
When the Noxians had needed more soldiers, they sent the Reckoners in with promises of freedom. Many had try to desert and escape but they were always brought back and put to death in front of the rest. But that did not stop others from trying to escape.
None succeeded.
The battle against Demacia was where things changed for him. He had been captured by the Demacians and brought before King Jarvan III. That meeting was what led him to becoming the seneschal.
But things had changed now. It had changed once he had seen the flower bloom.
An impossibility. All it had been was a Demacian birch.
But it had happened.
An Ionian Spirit Blossom. In The Great City of Demacia. From the seed of a Demacian birch.
He would have stayed watching over it, happy with having a piece of his past with him till the end of his life... but his prince... no... his king... he had advised him to go on this journey.
A sad smile formed on his face, Jarvan IV had matured very quickly. The death of his father and then the war with the mages..... it had forced him to. His insecurity toward another man who also held claim to the throne had fortunately pushed him in the right direction.
The burden of purpose.
His young king was doing well with the burden.
Though he supposed some of the sudden maturity had been a result of another life threatening incident and a romantic interest.
Jarvan had consulted him regarding this. But as someone who had never taken a wife, the only thing he could say was to follow his heart and do what he believed was right. Fortunately for Xin Zhao, Jarvan had liked the advice.
It had been five years since the blossom had appeared. It did not fade. Not even once. And in those five years, Demacia had acquired stability. Though there still remained fear of magic and mages, citizens were willing to look past it. They were willing to trust them. And that was all that mattered. New leaders rose. Competent ones. And after decades of nothing, Demacia began to see development the likes of which hadn't been seen since its founding.
Only after all this had come to pass before his eyes, did Xin Zhao listen to Jarvan and finally begin his journey to Ionia.
Five years late.
But arriving all the same.
KNOCK
KNOCK
He pushed himself up, the blanket sliding off his body.
"Lord seneschal?"
Xin Zhao wore his upper garment and walked toward the door.
The voice announced from behind the door, "We are approaching the river port. You had requested to-"
He pushed the door open, stopping the man, "My thanks sergeant. I will join you on deck shortly."
"Of course, My lord." The man bowed before walking away toward the deck.
Xin Zhao closed the door and donned a chest plate and a cloak over himself. One hand held his spear, a gift from the previous king and the other cradled the blossom.
He walked onto the deck and watched the men lower the boats to send ashore. The ships were much to big to make landfall.
As he watched the port from a distance, his chest began to feel heavy. The lights shining bright, illuminating the homes and the streets softly looked beautiful.... but it did little to calm his restless heart. Even in the darkness, the colors of Ionia shone through. The mountains, into which the homes were built into. The trees that stood tall while also curving around everything. Soft blues, pinks, reds and greens echoed as far as his eyes could see.
That was the beauty of Ionia.
It was ever changing.
There was one memory that always brought a smile to his face. It was one he had often told others when drunk. When he was a child he had seen a man walk out his wooden home in anger. The home was built into a large tree... like a lot of other Ionian homes. The reason for this anger? He hadn't caught enough fish for the day. His wife had been quite cross with him for that. Ionian women were quite feisty.
But the man had walked out of the house angry. Angry at his misfortune. Alas..... his misfortune hadn't ended yet. He took out his gourd and started drinking, the alcohol numbing him. However, alcohol often made men do stupid things.
The man pulled back and kicked his house in anger.
In every other land.... nothing would have happened. The man would have continued about. Not in Ionia. Ionia was alive.
The ground rumbled as the man stumbled back, slipping and landing on his ass. He looked up as his house rose up above him, thick roots acting as legs. He rubbed his eyes as he watched him home stand up and leave, his wife and child still inside.
The man spent the entire day chasing after the tree apologizing before it finally relented and walked back to its original position.
Xin Zhao chuckled at the memory. No one believed the story when he had told it but it was true. He had seen it himself. Or rather..... he had watched his father chase his home around as his mother and brother laughed at him.
His family. He hadn't thought of them in a long long time. A sense of melancholy took over him.
His dreams had been making him consider a lot of things. Things most men would have clear answers to but had left him questioning a lot.
Who was he?
A fisherman?
A pit fighter?
An unwilling soldier?
A willing soldier?
A captain?
A general?
A seneschal?
Which identity among these suited him? Which among them truly represented him? Which one could he look back at..... and feel a sense of accomplishment?
He had put a lot of thought into this. Every answer was something he often looked back on. His days as a fisherman.... as a child sailing the waters. His days in the pits fighting to survive and gain the eye of some lord who would sponsor fights. His days as a soldier climbing the ranks to the eventual position of seneschal.
But which one was the true him? The one his heart resonated with?
Where did he belong?
Demacia or Ionia?
And finally.... who did he serve?
His king?
Or.... himself?
The dreams had brought him so much to think about. His eyes unconsciously fell on the blossom. Everything had started from this.
"My lord. You can board the vessel now."
Words from the sergeant broke him out of his thoughts.
"Thank you sergeant." Xin Zhao nodded to the man as he walked toward the edge of the ship and stepped onto the last boat, the largest boat. "Thank you and your crew for bringing me all the way here."
The sergeant shook his head, "No need to thank us my lord. It is our duty to support the kingdom. We are also getting paid for this after all."
Xin Zhao nodded once more before looking toward the port. The boat was slowly dropped into the sea.
"Careful, my lord." One of the men with the oars said, "The tides are a little high at this moment. Please take a seat. It will be hard to maintain balance."
He took a seat facing the port, his spear propped up beside him.
Placing a hand over his chest, he hoped.... he hoped that Ionia had all the answers he needed.