Chapter 23 - The Razor's Edge

Planning. Unsurprisingly, that was the essence of a good plan. So why was it that, in spite of years of careful, methodical, intricate planning everything seemed to go wrong at every damn turn? He had Annie, sure, he could tick that of the list of a million steps he had to fulfil. He'd got the temple open, yet another step done, one he had expected to be far more difficult than it had proven to be. Ah well, he'd take a win; he was running short of those nowadays. What annoyed him the most was the damn mummy. He'd expected Annie to have friends, but he'd been expecting to deal with them with similar ease as to how he dealt with the warrior Yasuo. That stupid, good for nothing mummy however proved to be a recurring thorn in his side, and even though he'd finally managed to escape his persistence, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd have to deal with him again before this was all over. He smiled to himself; the next time they met he'd have a much easier time defeating him. Planning, that was the key to greatness.

Annie however lacked this calm confidence, allowing herself to be half led, half dragged through the gradually descending corridors of the temple, trying not to think of what was to come. It wasn't that hard, the image of Amumu was quite easily dominating her thoughts. She'd cried as much as her body would allow her, and now she could do little but resign herself to nonexistence. She would soon be dead, as would all her loved ones, and she was completely out of ways to fight it. She hoped that her friends, no matter where they were, had found some happiness in these last days. She wondered if Lulu and Veigar had actually come to Ionia, if she had convinced the cold-hearted yordle to lighten up. She wondered if Shyvana and Jarvan were still as blissful as they had been the day she'd left Demacia. Was Lucian still passing out drunk in Vayne's arms? Were the two Crownguards content with their respective affairs? She felt something tug at her heart as she thought of Riven, having Yasuo taken from her. At least her pain wouldn't be long lived.

The corridor gradually opened up, the lighting slowly picking up until they stood in what appeared to be a large ritual chamber of sorts. Torches littered the walls to keep the room bright, although most of the illumination came from the back of the room, the source of the light yet unseen by Annie. The boy led her forward still, Annie finally able to see what appeared to be an altar of sorts at the far end of the room. The boys pace had slowed, and he was lightly chuckling to himself. He was proud, he'd waited so long for this, and now his dreams were to become a reality. He couldn't resist the urge to gloat a little.

"It's quite beautiful isn't it? A lot worse sites could be your last, I hope you realise that." Annie was deathly silent, too weak to even acknowledge his words, a fact the boy did not take kindly too. He yanked her head up by her hair, Annie not so much as grimacing as she was forced to look into the boy's eyes.

"Death is no reason for you to lose your respect." He moved her head so she was forced to look at the peculiar stone altar at the end of the room.

"At the beginning of time people would sacrifice innocent souls in this temple on a daily basis, always seeking to gain a little bit of what they had. Some wanted physical strength, others knowledge and secrets. It was a part of everyday life, and now it lies here unused. You agree it's a waste, don't you?" Still no response, the boy gripping Annie by the throat and leading her over to the altar, and past it. Now Annie could see what illuminated the room so well, for on the far side of the room was a pit deeper than Annie had ever seen, and lining the walls was a horrible inferno, seemingly burning from nothing but with enough heat to cause Annie to close her eyes for fear of them turning to ash. Anything, or more distressingly anyone, who fell in there was going to burn up well before they had the chance to see what the bottom looked like. Not that dying to the fire was anything to worry about, more concerning was how the boy was draining what little of her energy she had left, her eye lids growing tired and slowly falling shut. She couldn't fight it; she was too weak, too sleepy. All she wanted to do now was close her eyes.

"Step away from her." The boy practically threw Annie's tiny body across the room, rounding on the intruder with an intense fury burning throughout his entire being. He didn't even stop to see whom it was, lashing out with a torrent of fire, hoping to simply incinerate whatever pest would interrupt him at this pivotal moment. The blinding blaze cleared to reveal a young boy, surely no older than himself, standing amidst the charred stones completely untouched by the inferno from a few moments earlier. The newcomer looked over towards Annie, clenching his fists as he did so.

"Is she dead?"

"What does it matter?! You all will be soon enough, so can you please just die!" The boy let out a guttural cry as he tried once again to kill the newcomer, but this time he was caught off guard as the other boy managed to close the distance between them, the two now tussling with each other with their faces mere millimetres apart. The intruder wasn't familiar to the boy, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew him from somewhere. The black hair and youthful complexion could be typical of anyone his age, but those eyes. Realisation began to dawn on the boy.

"Amumu? My god, you have got to be the most infuriating little…" Before he could even finish Amumu threw his fist into the boy's chest, sending his counterpart staggering back as he tried to catch his breath. Amumu didn't wait for him to recover, rushing over to Annie and checking her over. Lots of scratches, bruises, burns and other assorted markings, but her breathing was steady if not a little raspy. He gently laid her back down and turned to the boy, the latter now recovered and wiping a small trickle of blood from his lower lip. The two looked each other over, weighing up their opposition, determining their available moves and their odds of each working. The boy moved first, the whole room beginning to heat up as fire began to make its way across the floor towards Amumu, who took the opportunity to close some of the distance between them. It was hard going, Amumu feeling as though he were rushing headlong into a storm, an unseen gale pushing against him at every point. He felt the first traces of fire licking at his legs, glad to feel that his magic was dampening the impact, not that he intended to rely on that for too long. He could barely make out his adversary through the intense light the fires were causing, but that was enough for him to reach out with his magic, wrapping layers upon layers of arcane energy around his target, the fires slowly dying away as the boy tried instead to escape from his binds. With a scream, Amumu sent himself flying towards the boy, tackling him to the ground as the two rolled across the floor, each trying to physically overpower the other. A pain shot up Amumu's lower body as he felt a knee collide with his nether region, all air being instantly lost from his lungs. The boy rolled on top of Amumu, a smirk crossing his face.

"Checkmate." The boy reached out, laying his palm across Amumu's cheek. There was a moment of extended silence, Amumu waiting for whatever was coming. Yet once the moment ended the boy simply laughed, Amumu feeling no different as a result. The boy burst into a hysterical cackle, the room being filled with the horrible sound. Amumu took a staggered step back, finally managing to regain his lost breath.

"It wouldn't let me." Amumu looked up at the boy, a smile plastered across the lunatics face as he rambled quietly to himself. Then he met Amumu's eyes, horrible bloodshot orbs that had little trace of sanity remaining.

"Why wouldn't it let me!?" The boy took a step forward and gripped Amumu by the cheeks, waiting desperately for something to happen. Amumu however was not so defenceless this time, and instead of waiting for the boy's failure, he retaliated himself. Reaching up he gripped the boy's arm by the wrist, and instantly his enemy's face paled. A golden aura engulfed the two, streams of magic flowing between their bodies at the contact. Amumu felt the boys grip weaken, but he did not let up, standing his ground as the boy turned frail and weak, collapsing to the ground. Tears filled his eyes, and soon he was screaming, writhing in agony, begging for the torture to stop. His other hand reached up to his head, clawing at his face as though trying to tear something out through his skin.

Only when the boys voice gave out, his screams little more than raspy moans, did Amumu release his grip. The boy collapsed, taking deep breaths. Amumu turned away from the pathetic scene, heading over to Annie. He had just lifted her into his arms when the boy spoke once more.

"So much sadness." The boy was attempting to crawl towards the altar, his arms and legs finally seeming to be under his control. Amumu didn't even have the capacity to pity the sight.

"Now you know what you caused." The boy laughed at this, the act causing him to cough, but not stop. Amumu felt his fists clenching; that noise would give him nightmares for years.

"My fault? You fool…" The boy stopped, body being wracked by another coughing fit.

"I saw an entire city brought to its knees in sadness, a civilisation struck down long before I had my first breath. I watched as one by one they turned on each other, lost without the guidance of their ruler, a ruler which in his foolishness had doomed the state." Amumu gently put Annie on the ground, walking over to the boy who was still talking between giggles.

"I heard their screams; Aria, Annie, all the ones you've ever hurt. You doomed so many, and for what? Your goals weren't even anything as grand as power or respect. No, you did it because you were alone, always have been, and always will be. You would doom a million souls for the life of the one that would accept you. How is that any worse than what I am doing? At least I have ambition, a comparable fucking reward!" Another coughing fit, blood spilling out over the floor at Amumu's feet, rage beginning to grip the youth.

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't take moral advice from you." The boy burst into laughter, gripping his side but refusing to stop the noise. Even as he struggled out his next few words, the laughing continued.

"You are a monster Amumu, a liar and a butcher, a threat to all who would call this world home. So don't try to act like you have some moral high ground, because when push comes to shove…" The boy stopped laughing, smiling to himself as he finally looked up at Amumu, the Shuriman ending up looming over the frail body that was now leaning against the altar.

"You're just like me." Amumu lost it then, gripping the boy by the throat and lifting him into the air. He could see the rage emanating off him in ribbons of gold, each one flickering off into the air seeking a means of escape. Many latched themselves onto his defenceless captive, each strike causing the body to writhe in pain in his grip. He wanted to kill him, more than he'd wanted anything else in this world, and the boy deserved it too. He'd killed Yasuo, almost killed Annie, Soraka, the list stretched on and on. But something stopped him, the feeling of something, or the memory of something, sending chills down his spine every time he pictured the boy's body lying lifeless at his feet. Then he began to hear it, the whisperings in the back of his mind, the half-voices that would torment him day in and day out. Dark nothings crossed his mind, mutterings of death, pain and torture, Amumu's body beginning to shiver at the sensation. He felt himself losing control of his body as he took a step closer towards the ledge, his curse causing his mind to act of his own accord. It would be so easy now, all he had to do was let go and the frail body would topple off the edge into the inferno below, and that would be that. He could hear the cheers now, egging him on as he felt his fingers loosen his grip.

And then they were gone. Just like that he felt the voice disappear, a sense of clarity passing over him as he tightened his grip on the boys throat, refusing to drop him. He felt a tug at the back of his mind, as though something were being forcefully pulled out of his head, and then suddenly even that sensation was gone. Left in his place were memories, a thousand smiles and laughs, each he'd shared with people over his immense lifetime but never seemed to recall. He found himself smiling in spite of the situation, and in his new state simply dropped the boy, letting the body fall onto the stone floor not one inch from the edge that a few moments earlier would have spelt his death. He turned, heading back towards Annie, gently lifting her up while smiling to himself. His opponent was speechless, seemingly rendered silent for the first time since their meeting. He pulled himself to his feet slowly, a grimace stretching across his face as he watched Amumu and Annie make their way towards the exit. He went to take a step forward, only to find himself stumbling back, as though some invisible force had come flying into his chest, although whether it were magic or his imagination he could not tell. He didn't have time to scream as he slipped, his form disappearing in silence over the edge, the whole spectacle rather benign given everything else that had happened. Amumu watched the whole thing, his smile never leaving his face as he breathed a long, deep sigh of relief. As if on cue he felt the mass that was Annie shift in his arms, slowly opening an eye and looking up at him. Amumu had expected confusion; she had never seen him this way after all. Instead there was only relief, a sense of ease visibly flowing through her limbs as her joints unwound.

"What did you do to yourself silly?" A few coughs escaped the exhausted amge before she continued.

"You could have died." Amumu smiled, leaning over and, as gently as he'd ever done anything else in his life, placed a chaste kiss upon her lips, a fleeting contact that would stick with them for an eternity.

"If anything had happened to you, I might as well have." He gently brushed a piece of scorched her out of her eyes.

"I love you." Annie wrapped her arms around Amumu's neck, pulling herself up and burying her face in the crook of his neck as he carried her out of the temple and into the sunlight, whispering softly into his ear as he did.

"I love you too."

And so the psycho dies, and in his wake blooms a new love. I'm so close to finishing part two of the Heartseekers, expect one more chapter soon for this part and then we are onto the thrilling home run.

Please RFF as always!