A dusty road winded forward and the entourage of heroes marched on, destined to seek a time of peace and calming among the walls of the Institute of War. They had earned a chance to rest, and the ability to travel without worry was uplifting.

Riven was simply glad to be out of the Freljord. Its icy landscape became more of an eyesore to one used to residing in the beautiful tropics of Ionia. Master Yi could relate, but if the thoughts held to his mind he had no intention of speaking them. He remained as quiet as ever during their travels.

Zac did not mind the cold; being entirely gelatinous and practically bullet proof. His content came from being with his friends, and standing by their side was more than enough to put his mind at ease.

In the lead of the pack was Garen. He rather enjoyed the walk, knowing he was in no rush to get anywhere, and did not need to maintain the stress of being seen or caught. Regardless of his serenity, he still stayed alert. He knew more than anyone that simple actions could change the entire course of history.

He halted in his step and the group stayed behind him. The road in front housed a woman and a young man. The woman wore a green cloak over her head and grey hair that transitioned into red tips could be seen dangling out. The man wore a cloak with yellow and blue Demacian colors, but no emblem. The pack approached the woman skeptically to see what she wanted.

"Garen..." the woman whispered, clearly incredibly distraught and longing to see him. The Demacian was confused, seeing as he was not familiar with whom she was. He looked at her skeptically and waited for her to continue.

"I... It's been decades..."

"Decades?" Garen remarked, quizzically. She replied by turning her head up and removing the hood over her face. It took him a moment but he recognized the woman as Katarina, just much older, with graying hair and small wrinkles beginning to show.

"Katarina!" Garen called out. "What happened? Where's Talon?"

"Talon... He is safe, Garen. But I have to tell you something..."

"Yes, I am listening Katarina."

"I'm just glad I finally found the right path. It's like... a butterfly effect. One wrong path and everything goes in a completely new course..." A tear streaked down her cheek and her voice trailed off. Garen moved in closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. She instantly fell into his arms and held tight as she wept. The group shifted attention to the man in the colorful cloak, who lowered his hood and approached Garen.

Lifting his head from Katarina too meet eyes with the stranger, his body went into a slight stage of shock. It was like looking into a mirror. He was well built and a little under six feet tall, he wore his red wavy hair short and his square jaw stubbly. His eyes seemed to pierce through their target, much like Katarina's, and he smiled broadly to create the same folds in his cheeks that Garen's face would. He held out his hand gave the Demacian a firm handshake, before allowing him to continue.

"My name's Joshua. Judging by your expression, I can tell that you see our resemblance. You and Katarina are my parents, in a future different than yours."

"A future different than mine? What do you mean? Katarina is married to Talon. I don't foresee that relationship breaking by any means."

Joshua shook his head in response, seeing that Garen was not understanding his meaning.

"Garen... In our world, Evaine LeBlanc was not stopped. Her plans were too in depth for anyone to predict. Katarina and I have tried countless times to change the course of history, and to rewrite the outcome, to save Runeterra and its people. To put it into perspective, I was a newborn when we began."

The whole party stared blankly, not quite sure how to process the information. Had it not been for the aging Katarina and the man who looked remarkably like Garen, not one of them would believe the story.

"We can get you back to your time then. Clearly, this future is set. We can go see Zilean..."

"That's not how it works..." Katarina mumbled, still teary eyed and weak with overwhelming emotion. Joshua picked up the sentence for his mother.

"Forgive her. This path we have followed has not been an easy one, and while I have known nothing but this life, she had to make tremendous sacrifice… But Garen, Zilean is dead. As far as we are concerned, this timeline is set. Every action we performed permanently changed our timeline, unless we were to go back to it and revoke our actions."

"Zilean is dead? How? I thought he was safe inside the League," Garen pressed.

"There are a few assassins who can slip in and out of even the most well built palaces," Joshua said with a slight nod to Katarina.

"You... set this timeline?" Riven questioned, clearly very concerned with the well being of the woman in front of her.

"Yes," she whispered. "But it's not yet safe..."

"What's not yet safe?" Garen asked.

"This world," said Katarina's son. "Without the League, we fear Runeterra will not be safe. The uncontrolled mana usage could turnout just as the world did back in the Rune Wars. Additionally, there is reason to believe LeBlanc has not been fully taken care of. Time likes to set itself back on track. We have to ensure this does not happen."

Garen look around at his comrades and got reassuring nods from all of them, before he turned back to gaze at Katarina.

"Very well, you have our aid. Where do we start?"

Joshua grinned and lowered his head.

"Stop LeBlanc, or save Runeterra… Your choice, really." Garen turned to his friends with a grin on his face.

"And I thought that we were going to get to relax," Zac chimed in.

"We cannot be at peace, when chaos ensues," Master Yi reassured. The group chuckled and continued on their way, towards the Institute of War.