(A/N) Hey! Here's the next chapter, I probably won't get a lot of readers... but that's okay! I'm just writing this because it's a good way to practice for English assignments and such. :) Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Ionia

"Are you Zed?" Astral asked, already knowing the answer. The man smirked, "Indeed. My name is Zed, the Master of Shadows." the ionian answered with a low chuckle. "Tell me, child. Why are you in Ionia?" he asked, scraping his two razer-like weapons together. The metallic sound the weapons created made the teen uneasy, like Zed would stab him at any given time. The raven-haired boy paused momentarily, then responded quietly, "...I'm fleeing the Noxians..." Astral answered, his eyes not wavering. He wasn't going to let his guard down anytime soon, because if he did it would be like waving raw meat in front of a hungry wolf. The Ionian laughed, "So, that's what happened..." he smirked, pointing his blades at the teen.

Immediately, Astral took a defensive stance, "Back off, Zed." he ordered through gritted teeth. Zed smiled coldly, "Make me." he taunted before lunging at the boy. He whipped two shurikens at the teen, and the boy decided kicking the sharpened metal back wouldn't be the best idea. Astral carefully maneuvered the spinning metal, the shurikens digging into the trunks of the trees behind him. He thought he was in the clear, when a shadow clone appeared behind him. Astral turned around, blasting the one behind him into nothing, but that gave the real Zed an opening to attack.

Astral heard a low voice whisper from behind him, "Game over." he said with a chuckle. The teen smiled, "Yeah?" he said before flipping into the air, avoiding the man's fatal attack. He landed on the man's neck, knocking him over. A huge blast of energy then appeared from beneath his sneakers, sending a powerful shock towards the ground. Zed was quick, and avoided the shot. He jumped into the air while Astral was airborne and kicked him even higher. The teen grabbed Zed's leg and flipped him over, sending him face-first to the ground.

They both hit the ground at a heavy impact making dirt and debris fill the skies. When the dust cleared, the pair had their weapons pointed at each other; ready to kill. "Not bad." Astral said, looking at the Ionian's amused expression, "Same to you." he replied casually. Astral was first to release his arcane power, and Zed put down his blades. The two had acknowledged each other to be strong and were both sparing their own lives. If they kept fighting, surely they would both die.

There was a silence as the two thought of what to do next, when Zed finally spoke up, "Come with me. I'll explain what is happening currently." he said in a much more calm tone. It wasn't a friendly tone, but it wasn't a murderous one. Astral thought for a second then agreed, he wasn't going to go marching back into the war zone. He knew that he shouldn't be trusting Zed, but after exchanging punches he had a gut feeling that he could trust him. Also, if he headed back to the institute, there was a high possibility the Noxians had already taken over the Institute. Willingly, he followed the master of shadows to a tunneled entrance that led underground, "We're going underground?" Astral asked with suspicion, looking at the dark area.

Zed shook his head, "Yes. This pathway leads to our dojo. The base is in a well protected place to practice the forbidden arts." he answered, before jumping into the darkened pit. Zed's sandals hit the ground, a loud echo rebounding off all the walls as he began to walk forwards. The teen followed, using the light illuminating the hoverboard as a lantern. They went down the tunnel, hearing the many legs of centipedes race beneath their feet.

Astral didn't mind bugs as much as Ezreal, and wasn't scared of them at all. Ezreal on the other hand, would go running when he saw any insect with more than two legs. Hard to imagine he's explored most of Runeterra.

The pair reached their destination, the light from above lit up in the mouth of the tunnel. Zed jumped up, swiftly climbing the cobbled wall that camouflaged their base. Astral didn't bother climbing, and used his board to fly over the wall. When he was out of the cave, he saw a large dojo with many men in masks training away. They were practicing their skills on each other, and were also manipulating shadows. In Astral's opinion, they weren't anywhere close to Zed's skill. He guessed that's why Zed was called the master of shadows.

The dojo was surrounded by mature lilac trees, the branches arching over the sturdy structure. The leaves were brushing against the roof. Zed walked past the trainees, and the people stopped training to bow at their leader.

"Welcome back, Zed sir!" one shouted, clearly and did an exact ninety-degree bow. Astral noticed some troops were staring at him, most of them had red eyes that seemed to venture straight through his soul. The boy ignored the glares of judgement and noticed the sky was becoming a light pink as the sun slowly sank into the horizon. Zed gestured to come inside, and the boy followed. He took off his sneakers as he stepped on the tatami mats, the texture of the ground pressing against his bare feet.

There were two pillows laid on the ground, but one was significantly larger. He assumed the bigger pillow was a way to show dominance when a guest arrived. The Ionian had dark brown hair and red eyes, but his face had many scars that covered his face and arms. Zed sat down on his knees and looked at the teen calmly, "So, basically. You're dead." Zed said plainly, the metal mask resting on the side of his head. Astral was caught off guard, he thought Zed was going to try and kill him again, but asked him, "What do you mean?" he said.

Zed pointed at the young boy, "Everyone thinks you were murdered. You were a trigger to the beginning of the war." he explained cooly, watching for Astral's expression. He just stared at Zed, as he didn't know how to react. Should he be overjoyed they would do this to avenge his death or angry the war has begun. He felt a little bit of both.

The sky was now dark, the sun had completely left the skies and students were coming in to sleep for the night. Astral began to feel extremely sleepy and watched the figures in front of him dance. "Astral? Are you okay?" the voice asked, before the teen fell over. He hit the ground with a thump and began to sleep, he hadn't slept for a while and had exhausted his powers immensely.

It was typical the teen would break down when the sun set. Zed was silent, had he bored his guest to sleep? "Someone come here and take him to the guest quarters!" the master of shadows shouted before standing up. He pulled on his mask, and walked to the door. He slid it open and he asked plainly, "Who are you?" he said, glaring at the figure eavesdropping at the door.

The girl giggled happily, "Wow Fishbones! Metal man found us!" she laughed, her blue pigtails bobbing up and down. Zed recognized her from the rift and tilted his head, "Coming to get another beating, Jinx?" he asked, crossing his arms as he walked towards the giggling girl.

Jinx shook her head and pointed, "Coming for Aaron!" she smiled, looking at the sleeping teen that was now being carried away to a proper room. Zed glared at her, "It's Astral." he responded and Jinx just laughed, "yeah I know! Aladdin!" she said finally then walked into the dojo her leather boots staining the tatami mats.

Zed just shook his head as he closed the door behind her and walked away, "Whatever. Don't cause too much trouble, or I'll be out for your blood." he threatened then disappeared into the dojo's halls.

"'Kay." Jinx giggled, before taking off to explore the vast dojo.

League of Legends Institute

"Wake up! Can you hear me?!" a voice shouted loudly, patting the unconscious person's cheeks. Lux slowly opened her eyes to see Ezreal shaking her. She tried to speak, but it felt like her lungs had been ripped apart. If she inhaled or exhaled too quickly, she would feel a sharp burning feeling.

She was hooked up to an oxygen machine, a mask pumping fresh air into her lungs. "Ezreal..." Lux mumbled, looking into her lover's worried blue eyes. The man embraced her in a warm hug, his face wrinkled from fear. "I was so worried, Lux..." he said, tightening his grip on the lady of luminosity.

Lux hugged him back, wrapping her fair hands around his tattered leather jacket, "...good morning." she smiled, taking another breath out of the oxygen machine. The pair embraced each other for what seemed like an eternity then finally broke apart.

Lux looked to the left to see all the survivors from the war. Caitlyn and Vi were both unconscious on the hospital beds set up beside her. She looked right to see Akali already up and out of bed. Her injuries had healed much faster than anyone else. The Kinkou ninja was typing on a huge computer, her fingers quickly tapping away at the mechanical keyboard.

"What... are you doing, Akali?" Lux asked while sitting up, pushing the sheets off of
her. She took the mask off because she no longer needed it, her feet clapping against the tile grounds. Akali turned around on her spinning chair to face Lux.

"I'm watching the footage of the battle." Akali stated, pressing play to the video that had just loaded on the big screen. Lux tapped the screen, dragging the slider to the part when they had fallen on the battlefield. "I need to see something..." Lux murmured, the scene of the masked man began to play.

Akali had been unconscious past this point, and everything that played was something she had not witnessed. "Who is that?" the ninja asked, pointing at the figure located in the center. "The person that saved us." the lady of luminosity muttered, scanning his body.

He turned his face towards the camera, unaware it was there. His mask was strapped above his eyes, she could see red irises shining through the eyeholes of the silken mask. He had a blade in his hands that seemed to change its form regularly from a bow to a sword to a scythe. It was morphing into every weapon the pair could think of. Lux's eyes dazzled with amazement. "That's a familiar weapon..." Akali muttered, staring at the weapon, her eyebrows furrowed into a bunch.

Lux faced Akali, "You know what that is?" she asked the Ionian with curious eyes. Akali kept watching the video, but she answered Lux's question, "It's an Ionian forbidden weapon..." she answered watching the masked man leap into the air, the scythe maximizing its size, "though this man is quite skillful..." the ninja added, looking at the man's elegant posture.

What came next in the video was a wave of blood, surging upwards then rained down, staining the ground with thick crimson liquid. The lens was covered in a layer of thick blood, unable to see through it anymore. Lux covered her mouth, she didn't realize it was this bad. Akali paused, then turned the monitor off. After a short silence, Akali spoke up, "You know... during this war... Ezreal was nowhere to be found..." the ninja said, looking at Lux seriously. The blonde's innocent expression then shifted into a cold glare, "Akali... don't you ever suggest that. Ezreal would never do something like that without telling me." Lux lectured, her eyes fixated on the prodigal explorer now snoozing on the couch.

Akali shrugged, "He was the only one not present." she said, before standing up to stretch. Lux bit her lip, "I can't believe you're suggesting this. Look. I'll prove to you he's innocent." the lady of luminosity murmured confidently, walking over to Ezreal. She tapped his forehead and his eyes slowly fluttered open. "Lux?" he asked drowsily, seeing the blonde's serious expression.

"I need to ask you something." Lux asked boldly. Ezreal shrugged, "What is it?" he asked, shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Were you... the masked man?" Lux asked quietly, watching for Ezreal's reaction. "Of course not." he replied immediately, in a convincing and reassuring tone. The lady of luminosity was silent for a moment, when tears began to fill her eyes. She stood up from her crouch position and slapped him right across the cheek. Ezreal looked stunned as she just glared at him.

"The video footage was opened for the first time. You wouldn't have known who the masked man is... But, you did..." Lux faltered, then turned around and stomped away. Ezreal stretched his hand towards the girl, trying to grab her before she left, but failed. "Lux, it's not like that! I'm not the masked man, there's just things I can't tell you..."

Lux stopped, and glared back at him, "I don't care Ezreal. I thought you trusted me..." she said, her eyes red from the salty tears streaming down her cheeks.

"...it's over." Lux finished before running up and out of the institution. The place was dead quiet as most were still recovering from the Teemo spores. Ezreal just sat there silently, then fell to his knees, "I'm so sorry, Lux..." he sobbed before completely breaking down.

Ionia

Sun flooded through the wooden windows of the dojo. There wasn't a glass pane that separated the inside from the outside, so a fresh gust of wind blew across the tiny room. It was early in the morning and the whole building was silent. Astral could hear the flocks of birds gliding by the wooden walls, some of them flying right into the wall. "Stupid birds." the teen muttered with annoyance in his tone. The boy sat up to stretch his arms and back. Pleased with the sounds of his bones crackling and his muscles stretching out, Astral stood up. He didn't remember falling asleep, and couldn't recall most of Zed's explanation.

Examining the room quickly, he noted the floors were also tatami mats here and he had slept on a thin mattress and used a wool blanket wrinkled up at the end of the mattress. The walls weren't permanent drywall like at the institute, but bamboo dividers that separated each student from each other during the day. Astral headed towards the door, sliding the thin bamboo door to the side.

He stepped out, the halls were chilled and a cold draft blew down the hallways. Astral shivered as his bare feet came in contact with the icy ground, he couldn't help but notice his muscles were sore. He had been perfectly fine before, but now his arms felt much heavier. Ignoring the pain in his muscles, he kept walking. He ventured down the halls, with no clue where he was going. He peeked through the cracks to see if anyone was awake yet, not even considering he might see something unsightly. However, the dojo still had an eerie silence.

The teen came to the end of the hall, the door had been left open, probably the source of the chilly draft. He walked outside, the texture against his feet were now blades of grass, and damp soil. "Anyone out here?" Astral asked, raising his voice to cover the vast field of grass. No response. He was about to head back inside, but a person appeared behind him, pointing a blade against his neck, "Hey, Astral. I'm still pissed you fell asleep during my story." the familiar voice laughed, a coldness in his tone.

Astral laughed back nervously, "Oops?".

(A/N Alright, I apologize. I had this chapter finished, but I never published it. Summers coming, so I'll update this more frequently...)