Chapter 16

When Akali acted like nothing was wrong, that was when Zed got suspicious. He watched her carefully all this time; he made sure that he noted her mannerisms and little quirks and how she acted and interacted with other people. Zed took note of it all. When Akali didn’t even bother throwing vitriol his way, he knew that something was up. He tried to mock her as usual, though Akali didn’t respond to him like she usually would. She would usually furrow her brow in frustration or throw a kama at him if her anger in particular was roused, though the cold glint in Akali’s eye when she ignored him had been more chilling than anything. Zed usually liked it when he stirred up anger within Akali—it meant that she was alive, that she was feeling emotions, though this new Akali was emotionless and cold. He didn’t know what happened to her, though something suspicious happened to her. He wondered if Shen noticed the difference in Akali as well. He would be a fool not to. Shen was very close to Akali, as intimate with her as he had once been.

Shen confronted Zed about it one day, knowing that something was up. Zed and Shen no longer shared any love between them anymore, though Shen wanted an alternative perspective and went to see it from his enemy’s view. Shen always tried to be neutral and enlightened; he took in broad perspectives from various sources and calmly and objectively reviewed them ll with patience and a keen intelligence that the eye of Twilight was known to have.

“Something is wrong with Akali,” Shen said in a stiff formal greeting to Zed, to which Zed brandished his blades.

“And whose fault is that, do you think?” Zed said.

“Are you implying that this entire matter is my fault?” Shen said in a toneless voice.

“What if I am?”

Shen remained silent for a moment, before saying, “I think you also played a role in this, Zed. Did you ever truly care for her?”

Zed’s temper rose. “Shen, who was the one who didn’t put his full trust in Akali and treated her like a child? I may have mocked her and tried to push her buttons, but I know that Akali is capable and you hold her back.”

Shen’s expression showed nothing, though there seemed to be despair in his voice when he said, “Zed, you can’t understand. I’m trying to protect her.”

“And what did that do? It led her to going somewhere she shouldn’t have and now she’s changed. I say this is your fault, Shen. You have to take responsibility for this.”

“You can’t possibly understand,” Shen said, as he now brandished his twin blades as a gesture of warning towards Zed. “I love her.”

“You think I never did?” Zed said, to which he also raised his weapons towards Shen. “You always acted so self righteous and you refuse to admit your wrong because you believe yourself to be more objective and enlightened than other people. But Shen, I know that you’re swayed by your emotions more than you let on. We were once like brothers, after all.”

“Don ‘t…” Shen said in a warning whisper. “Don’t talk about the past. That is behind us now.”

“It seems that you and Akali both can’t let go of the past and accept me for who I am,” Zed said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “Looks like I need to beat some sense into you.”

“Likewise,” Shen said, and then they dashed towards one another in a mighty clash.

Zed overpowered Shen, though shen still held sturdy and his own, because he was a tank rather than an outright attack damage beast. No matter how much Zed beat Shen down, Shen used his shields and innate sturdiness to endure Zed’s punishment, and Shen in turn began to wear down Zed’s stamina with his freakish endurance. Zed spun slashed Shen, while Shen blocked his slash with his twin swords, and taunted him so that Zed would be focusing him in an outright duel and couldn’t escape. Their swords clinked and clashed with maddening ferocity, and Zed wanted nothing more than to tear Shen down, while Shen expressed teh same sentiment.

No matter how Zed used his trickery and shadows, Shen would always be able to see right through him. They knew the other one’s techniques very well. They used to train together all the time, honing their skills, trying to best on e of the other, and Zed suddenly felt regret and wishing for the past as well. Though in battle, he felt that his emotions and whatnot could be expressed clearly in battle, and Zed cold steel anger got through to Shen, while Shen’s frustration and despair clanged in his swords.

The match ended in a tiebreaker. The two men nearly killed one another, and the Summoners had to intervene to break them part.

“Enough of this,” one Summoner said. “Zed, we expected trouble from you, though Shen, we expected better out of you. We’re going to penalize you for fighting one another off the Summoner’s Rift so that you can reflect on your sins.”

Zed and Shen went obediently. They didn’t argue with teh Summoners, didn’t resist, didn’t do anything. The emotions they exhausted through theri battle s till clanged and rang to the marrow of their bones. They were too worn to do anything else.

Zed and Shen were led into two separate cells that were next to one another. Zed back into one corner while Shen went to the other, apparently trying to meditate to calm his m ind, while Zed was scheming a way to get out. Though first, he had a plan, though he wasn’t sure if Shen would go along with it. Though Zed decided that he needed all the help that he could get, but he needed for the others to trust him first…

Zed figured it would be a long day in the cell.