Chapter 5: Thresh’s Plan
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Chapter 5: Thresh’s Plan
“I did everything you asked.”

Impatience gleamed in Akali’s eyes.

Yet Thresh wouldn’t be intimidated by this strong-willed girl. Did she think it would stop there? Oh well, it was her fault for assuming to trust him. With a little push and shove, then Akali could become stronger and more determined to pursue her goals. Which was the mindset she needed. All she needed was a slight nudge in the right direction, of course. Under Thresh’s tutelage, she would truly understand the dark machinations behind his mind…the Summoner’s Mind…everything will fall into place…

“There’s still more preparations to be made,” Thresh guided her through the Shadow Isles to their usual spot. “You must fight against Zed in the mid lane during the next match. I’ve arranged things so you and Zed are likely to be matched together. There, you guys can have an uncaged match against one another.”

Akali glanced away for a moment. At first, Thresh wondered if he miscalculated. Was she going to decline after all? Or maybe she hesitated because of trepidation in her heart? It’s only natural, after all—Zed was her former mentor and some would say, former lover as well, or so Thresh heard among the delicious gossip.

Akali suddenly looked weary.

“What if I can’t defeat him?”

“Are you having second thoughts?”

If he could grin, he would’ve, though as a skeletal being, his visage frozen in a perpetual monstrous sneer that mocked all life and humanity.

Akali shook her head.

“No. I mustn’t feel hesitation. Hesitation is the seed of defeat. That is what Shen always told me. I have to do this.”

She took a few steadying breaths. She recited the Ionian incantations of meditation, which Thresh knew by heart. But alas, it would not do for him to dwell on useless reveries—if these reveries were even what they seemed. He suspected these reveries he had, that all the champions had, was something important which remained unseen. Just a glimpse of something in the shadows. Thresh wondered if all the smoke and mirrors and shadows, a wasteland lay ravaged before them. How very interesting. He would find out, soon enough. But he must exercise patience and work his way with Akali, grooming her up and tauntingly holding information just out of her reach, but providing her with a few little morsels, like a starving wolf would hunger after a raw bone.

“I will also be part of your team,” Thresh said reassuringly.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t tense this time. She probably thought about killing Zed with that bloodlust within her. Good.

“If you need my assistance, I will be in bot lane. But I’m pretty sure that you can handle Zed yourself. I do have faith in your abilities,” Thresh said.

There, a little morsel. Akali chewed on his words, like the proverbial wolf gnawing on rawhide. Tasting it. She seemed somewhat pleased and maybe…a little shy? She seemed to be the type who wasn’t used to praises. Thresh decided he could play on that, that little girl's need for approval. He wondered what would happen if he unengineered all the careful training Shen put into Akali, making her a member of the Kinkou ninjas and fulfilling his will as the Eye of Twilight. No, Thresh was the monkey wrench and complication into matters. He wouldn’t let things go as they should.

“Seems like you’re the only one who does,” Akali remembered even Shen doubted whether Akali could face Zed in mid lane by herself. “Why does everyone insist on seeing me as a child?”

In comparison to Thresh, almost everyone else, including Shen and Zed, were considered children to him, though he did not pass this remark to Akali. Her good graces depended on her favor because she was the key to discovering something he had suspicions about. Thresh knew Akali would probably lose against Zed, this was an essential part of his plan. Akali would probably go after Zed with fervor and bloodlust in frustration and end up dying every time. Though Thresh held a certain fondness for Akali’s determination and her violent nature when tempered, Thresh knew Akali needed to experience ‘death’ in the league to understand what his suspicions are about.

“It doesn’t matter,” Akali muttered. “I’m going to prove them both wrong. I’m perfectly capable of handling myself. I don’t need them to act like my parents. I’m an adult now. And I want to be seen as their equal rather than the little girl that they mentored.”

“Oh, you definitely have talent,” If he could’ve winked he would’ve. “I sense in your soul aura some temperament that is suitable for a leader or someone with outstanding abilities. You’re not like anyone else, Akali. You are…let’s say…a perfect prodigy.”

Akali seemed to warm to Thresh from that compliment. “Well…I just work very hard, that’s all. But I mean, that doesn’t matter! What matters is that we get Zed. The bastard is probably scheming something in those shadows of his.”

“You will surpass him,” Thresh encouraged while laying it on quite thickly now. “Just have more confidence in yourself. Your persistence and determination were qualities that I admired in you…”

And something I would’ve liked to keep for myself in my lantern. He also thought. Regretful he couldn’t do anything to her or keep her though. But he wondered how Shen and Zed would react when Thresh groomed Akali carefully underneath his own kind of mentoring, in twisted morbidity of passing down a legacy of his own through Akali. Something he couldn’t fulfill in his previous life before he became a specter.

“Maybe,” Akali said. “You’re not as bad as other people claim you are, Thresh.”

Hook line and seeker. Thresh would’ve laughed at that moment but it would’ve been inappropriate. And would’ve undone all his hard work.

“Then you’ll agree? To fight in a match against Zed?” Thresh tried to hide the amusement that threatened to emerge in his voice.

“I agree,” Akali said. “I’ll do it.”

“Good,” Thresh ushered her out of the Isles. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

Akali nodded before she disappeared into the shadows. Her title as the Fist of Shadow was especially apt. He knew she would be an important part of his plans and Thresh wouldn’t be disappointed.

—x—

Someone watched her while she returned to the League Institute. She hastily gathered her kamas and scanned her surroundings, looking at every darkened nook and cranny for a figure or shadow. She could discern the false shadows from the real ones, though, and she immediately threw a kama towards Zed’s head. Emerging from the shadows was none other than Zed himself, the master of Shadows, as he caught her spinning kama.

“Giving your mentor an opportunity to kill you? How sloppy, Akali.”

“Zed,” Akali said as she stiffened in anger. “What are you doing here?”

“I came here to tell you that I know your secrets,” Zed said. “That I know you very intimately. You will fight against me if you wish, but you will lose. I am the one who mentored you, after all, before you turned your back on me to Shen.”

Akali’s hands clenched into fists. That arrogant prick! He was already looking down upon her! Was it because she was younger or was it because she wore her genitals on the inside rather than the outside? She didn’t know. But she didn’t like Zed’s carefree attitude towards her, as though she were beneath his notice. Or the fact that he seemed to be comfortable invading her personal space, as though he had every right to claim her despite being Shen’s. He must’ve wanted to earn Shen’s ire and Akali’s as well. Akali was strong, but even she couldn’t quite overpower Zed by herself. She needed to be careful…why did she take the long path home towards the League dormitories? She was stupid. Stupid her, deserved every bit of misfortune that she got.

“I will defeat you,” Akali said with deadset determination. “It was my greatest wish to finally surpass you. I will never forgive what you’ve done. I will never let you forget, either.”

“You will never let go of the past, will you, Akali?” Zed said while brandishing his blades.

Akali flinched. Recalling the past was still a raw emotional hurt to her. She thought she felt bad for Zed when she finally chose Shen over him. But after he killed Shen’s father, that was something she would never forgive…she vowed she would get Zed as the Pruning of the Tree. She once followed Zed eagerly, training underneath him, embracing the shadow arts he’s mastered for his own. Akali was molded by the shadows, comforted by them. His own shadow would be the death of him. Akali, always in Zed’s shadow, in Shen’s shadow. But no more, she will make a name for herself, distinguish herself, and become stronger. She will surpass both mentors. She knew it.

“I hate you,” Akali clenched her hands into fists.

She really wanted to strangle the man, snap his neck, make him bleed. To do anything that would hurt him as much as he hurt her. But the man had the emotional gradient of rock—he seemed unmoved or uncaring towards the hostility within her. Her bloodlust flared. Akali wanted nothing more than to wipe that infuriating smirk no doubt underneath Zed’s mask, but she restrained herself. She couldn’t have a match with Zed outside of the Summoner Sanctioned battles. She didn’t want to ruin the opportunity Thresh so nicely provided for her. She had a feeling Thresh manipulated her for a darker purpose, but that didn’t matter. This was…important. She must do this.

“Let that hatred sustain you, then,” Zed coolly disappeared into the shadows. “It’s the only way that you’ll ever defeat me and surpass me as your mentor…”

Akali watched him go. There was some kind of tension between them that eventually ignited from the spark of attraction Akali still felt for him. She hated to admit it, though she hated Zed for bringing up the past, for bringing up their previous relationship before things got complicated. He’s probably playing mind games with her, there’s no way a man like him possibly harbored feelings for her whatsoever. He opposed everything she stood for. So she must stand firm against him. She will not waver. She will defeat him, as she promised.

Though self-doubt plagued Akali as well. In comparison to Shen and Zed, who both have been slightly older than her and mentored her when she was a young girl, they were stronger. True, Akali could hold her own in matches and she was a strong and independent woman who was competent at fighting, though her temper was one thing that often clouded her emotions and led to hesitation, which led to defeat. Why was she hesitating now? She could easily chase after Zed in his realm of shadows. But she let him go.

I will never forgive him, Akali thought fiercely to himself. Even if he pleaded and begged for his life, I wouldn’t let him get away with what he did. What he did to Shen was…

She wouldn’t think about that. Zed mocked her as always. Akali felt she needed support from the one who stood steadfast and unyielding all this time; Shen. Her heart lightened a bit when she thought about Shen. Good sturdy Shen, who was always reliable and faithful. She loved him. And he loved her, this she knew. Maybe he would help her abate this uneasiness in her heart. The storm quelled her soul. However, when she approached Shen, he clearly was in a mood, despite it not showing in his expression.

“What is it, Akali?” Shen said.

“Zed says that I can’t hope to defeat him,” Akali said. “But this time, I will surely defeat him.”

“Thresh planned this,” Shen said in disapproval, and Akali froze. “I don’t approve, Akali. You’re not ready to face him yet.”

Akali’s arms slackened by her sides, her jaw loosened. Was Shen…really telling her that she wouldn’t be able to do it? Did he look down upon her too? Akali then suddenly felt very stupid. Of course, she wasn’t equal to Zed. She would forever be the little girl that tagged along with Shen during their training sessions and followed him diligently, ever at his heels for his approval.

“Why does everyone insist on treating me like a child?” Akali said, her temper flaring. “Even you, Shen.”

“True, you may be eighteen,” Shen said. “But you need to learn the art of patience. You’re still very much impulsive, and it will lead you into doing something that you regret.”

“I thought you supported me, Shen,” Akali said, feeling a little stung. “But I see. I now know that you still view me as a little girl rather than a woman.”

Akali disappeared into the shadows. Shen didn’t even bother chasing after her. He could act incredibly cold at times, trying to restrain his emotions. That, and Akali hated how he stayed so reasonable even when she got at her angriest, chiding her and telling her she needed a cool head rather than the hot temper that often flared and sparked whenever she was provoked. Akali didn’t have her kama then, or she would’ve thrown it at Shen in frustration. Not to hit him of course, but to spook him a little, to show him her aim is better and she was not to be FUCKED with.

I’m going to fight him, Akali thought. Even if everyone disapproves, I will do it anyway.

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