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Thank you to everyone who has favirouted, followed or reviewed this fic so far.

This chapter will cover the ceremony, and a long conversation, so hope all are excited.


Chapter 14- The Soul of Runeterra

Runeterra, Ionia, Bard Mountain

Sara looked around as people were preparing for the ceremony. It had been two days since she had spoken with the Elders, and now there was a ceremony to allow Sara to speak to the Soul of Runeterra.

She was initially shocked on hearing that Runeterra had a soul, but the Elder explained that Runeterra itself was created by magic.

"And that was Bard." Sara muttered to herself, remembering the Wandering Caretaker.

'In the mountains, in the valleys. Everywhere you and I go, every moment, even when we don't know it, or can't see it, there is Bard.' The Aspect replied proudly.

"Ms. Lance, I believe it is time." The Elder said, approaching her.

"So, what do we do?" Sara asked.

"It is a complicated ceremony, but I will explain it to you," the Elder said. "First, we will meditate. Then you must drink a special concoction that opens your heart to the more Mystical powers in Runeterra. And then, you must wait until the Soul deems you ready."

"How long does all of this take?" Sara asked.

"About a few hours. However, time in the pocket Realm flows differently. So you may be there for years, but only ten minutes may pass here." The Elder explained.

"Huh. Makes sense." She shrugged. Did it?

The Elder led her into a tent where dozens of men, women and children had gathered to witness the ceremony.

"Are all these people supposed to be here?" Sara asked nervously.

The Elder shot her a look. "Yes, it has been a custom."

"Fair enough."

Sara and the Elder took cross-legged positions opposite each other.

Another man, this one younger, with raven hair that flowed down to his shoulders. He was wearing sandals and a half cloak.

In his hands was a bowl of dark liquid, and he held it in front of him, humming.

"My friends, I welcome all of you to the Wotang Ceremony," he said. "For the first time in thousands of years, the Soul of the World desires to speak to a mortal. Tonight, we shall fulfill its wishes, and through it, the fate of the world shall be decided."

He handed the bowl to the Elder first, who brought it to his lips and drank some. He put the bowl down and handed it to Sara.

"What is this? Why am I drinking this?" Sara asked carefully.

"It helps you communicate with the spirits better." The Elder revealed. "It is a brew that we make to allow us to access the more Mystical powers in Runeterra. You have to simply trust me on this."

"I don't know." She said hesitantly.

"This is essential. I understand that you might not wish to, but there is no other way." The Elder replied regretfully, placing a hand on her forehead, which instantly calmed her down.

She drank from bowl and almost choked on the sticky black liquid.

Sara put the bowl down and felt a little bit dazed.

The Elder clasped his hands in front of him and began humming as Sara slowly did the same.

Within moments, the world turned black.


Sara found herself in a grey world, with clouds everywhere. The Elder was next to her, and he looked around.

"Now we must pray to the Spirit Gods for guidance." He said, kneeling.

"Who are the Spirit Gods?" Sara asked.

"Anivia. Ornn. Janna. Kindred. Nagakabouros." The Elder listed as he chanted under his breath.

The world began changing as Sara looked around.


Within moments, the grey world was gone, replaced by the pillar on Bard Mountain again.

"Huh? What the hell now?" she asked.

She looked around, but to her shock, the Elder was gone, nowhere to be found.

"O-fa, where are you?" Sara asked, but got no response.

Sara looked around at the area in Bard Mountain. It seemed normal, but to Sara, it just felt off.

"I wanted a neutral place to meet with you."

Sara whipped around to see…herself?!

"What the…how do you look like me? Who are you?!" Sara demanded, clenching her fists, ready for a fight.

"I believe you already know who I am." The being replied.

Realization came over Sara. "The Soul of Runeterra."

"Bingo." It replied, giving her a thumbs up.

"Why did you take my form?" Sara asked.

"I don't have a corporeal form, and I didn't want to alarm you." The Soul shrugged.

"Okay. Why did you want to speak to me?" Sara asked.

"Come sit down first, and I will explain everything to you in time." The Soul said, gesturing to a pair of chairs that manifested out of thin air.

Sara sat down. This journey was crazier than she had expected. Now she was speaking to the soul of an entire world.

"How does Runeterra have a soul?" Sara asked.

"This world was created by a group of Celestials using objects called World Runes," the Soul explained. "That is why Runeterra is different from all other worlds in the Multiverse. There is only one."

"Okay. Makes sense I suppose." Sara said, trying to absorb this new information.

"This world is truly one of a kind." The Soul continued.

"Yeah it is," Sara said. "Why did you want to speak to me?"

"Because there is a reason why you are on this world." The Soul said, turning serious.

"Why is that?"

"To help save this world." The Soul said.

"Save it? Why? Why does it need saving?" Sara asked, puzzled.

"Because of the Great Nothingness that lies beyond existence. The Void. My eternal enemy." The Soul said.

"What is the Void?" Sara asked.

"Screaming into existence with the birth of the Multiverse, the Void is a manifestation of the unknowable nothingness that lies beyond. It is a force of insatiable hunger, waiting through the eons until its masters, the mysterious Watchers, mark the final time of undoing." The Soul explained grimly.

"Aw shit, and I suppose it is coming for this world?" Sara asked, gulping slightly.

"Not now. But soon enough it is. The previous two times it burst into this world wounded me greatly. And I still have not recovered from it." The Soul explained.

"Bloody hell." Sara muttered.

"I had a champion before this, over 9000 years ago," the Soul said. "Someone who could have saved us all. But she betrayed me for power and control."

"Who was this person?" Sara asked.

"Her name was Lissandra. Now, she is known merely as the Ice Witch." The Soul said sadly.

"She betrayed you to the Void?" Sara guessed.

"Well aren't you the perceptive one," the Soul said, raising an eyebrow. "Yes she did, though she sealed the Watchers away beneath a barrier of unbreakable ice. But even that ice is melting, and the Watchers will break free one day, soon enough."

"Oh this isn't gonna be good." Sara shook her head.

"Oh you don't say," the Soul replied. "But that is all in the past."

"So what now?" Sara threw her hands in the air.

"Now we discuss why I wanted to speak to you." The Soul said ominously.

"And why did you want to speak to me?" Sara raised an eyebrow in response.

"Because I need your aid."

"My aid? Why?" Sara asked in confusion.

"This world is in mortal danger," the Soul revealed. "Nations are at war with each other, and they refuse to listen to reason."

"No offence, but that's like the same on my Earth, and I'm pretty sure it's the same on other Earths." Sara pointed out.

"Not like this," the Soul shook its head. "They all fight, while being unprepared for the hidden dangers."

"Like the Void?" Sara guessed.

"The Void is but one of dozens of threats that could attack at any time. And Runeterra is unprepared for them all." The Soul said.

"Oh!"

"But it's not just the threats. This world will die in a few hundred years. I can feel it. And it is because of humanity. They wage endless wars with each other for centuries. The Fall of Shurima, the Great Darkin War and countless more." The Soul said.

"Oh, yeah." Sara said, realizing that made sense.

Her eyes then widened. The Soul looked very, very, very angry.

"I am fed up with them. I feel like destroying them all, and starting new." The Soul remarked bitterly.

"What? Oh hell no, you can't do that!" Sara protested.

"Oh really? Why not?" the Soul snapped, glaring at her.

"Well…sometimes you just need to have faith. People can surprise you after all." Sara said.

"When you've been around for billions of years, and watched the people destroy this world over and over again, you lose faith." The Soul sneered.

"You've gotta have hope. There are people who do care." Sara raised her hands.

"They are rare."

"No kidding." Sara sighed. It was the same thing on her Earth.

"They will not listen. They never do." The Soul snarled.

"Maybe they will. If you give them a chance." Sara reasoned.

"I have tried to help the peoples of this world by tasking champions to guide it, but they gave up, betrayed or failed." The Soul growled.

"Okay, maybe, just do it one more time." Sara said.

"Fine!" the Soul snapped, standing up. "I will give this world one last option! I will give this world one last chance!"

Sara looked up at it as the Soul calmed down a little bit. But not by much.

"Then the rainstorm came over me." The Soul muttered.

Sara looked at the Soul, and felt her spirit break. This Soul had lost all of its belief.

"You are right. We can do this, Sara. But Time has thrown a prayer to us." The Soul said finally, looking at her.

"What are we supposed to do?" Sara asked quietly.

"I need you to save this world." The Soul replied.

"Okay-wait what?" Sara backed up a little.

"I cannot do this anymore. I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. But you are strong, and full of hope." The Soul said.

"I just want to get home." Sara raised her hands.

"You will eventually. But please, I need you to do this. I cannot do this anymore, and no one else can either." The Soul replied.

Sara looked over at her and sighed.

"Believe me!" the Soul wept. "This world can be saved."

"How?" Sara asked.

"Because the peoples and countries of Runeterra need love. Love's divine. Please forgive them. Give them love. Love is what they need to help them know their names." The Soul pleaded.

"Okay, I will do this." Sara muttered, looking at it with pity.

"Please, Sara Katherine Lance." The Soul said, using her full name.

Getting up, tears streamed down its face as it looked at her.

"DON'T BEND! DON'T BREAK! TEACH THEM HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER AND PROMISE ME YOU WON'T FORSAKE!"

It quietened down and said. "Because love can help them discover their true selves."

Sara herself was moved to tears herself and nodded. "Okay I will."

"Thank you." The Soul of Runeterra said, sitting back down on the rock.

"The champions of this world, like Xin Zhao, Lee Sin, Darius, Swain, LeBlanc, Gangplank, Jayce and others, they are all bitter. But beneath that hatred and bitterness lies honor. May you succeed."

"I hope so." Sara muttered, realizing her quest just got a billion times harder than it already was.

"Demacia. Noxus. Ionia. Piltover. Zaun. Bilgewater. Shurima. Mount Targon. Ixtal. The Freljord. They all share the same biology, regardless of ideology." The Soul said.

"Amen sister." Sara agreed with a small smile.

"Believe me, Ms. Lance, there's no such thing as a winnable war. It's a lie I don't believe anymore. Noxus thrives on strength. I don't subscribe to their point of view." The Soul continued.

"Yeah that's true." Sara admitted.

The Soul waved its hand a projection was shown of a handsome dark-haired man in a white suit.

'He's hot.' Sara thought to herself.

The projection changed to show of a pink-haired girl and a blue haired girl fighting back-to-back against something.

"I don't know if I can do what you're asking me to do." Sara admitted, looking down.

"Answer me this, Ms. Lance; have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere?" the Soul asked.

"Maybe." Sara allowed.

"You and everyone else on this Earth are just on the outside, looking in. Will you all ever be more than you've always been?"

"I…yes." Sara admitted.

"Believe me, on this new journey of yours, you will let that lonely feeling wash away." The Soul said.

"The champions of Runeterra. They all share the same biology. Regardless of ideology. What might save us, me and you, is if they all learn to love each other too." The Soul said sadly.

"I don't know if I can." Sara looked down again.

"I know that you are beginning to run low on faith and strength. But this is going to be a long, hard journey." The Soul said.

"Possibly," Sara said. "War is not freedom over my shoulders. Tell me underneath my armor; am I loyal, brave and true?"

"You can be." The Soul shrugged. "You have the Aspect of the Wanderer intertwined with your soul. And just pray to Bard, for he is the Everlasting God. Bard can do all things, but fail, because he's never lost a battle, and he never will."

"Maybe I can." Sara muttered, clenching her fists.

"This world's heroes can be true champions. It all ends with you." The Soul encouraged.

"But why me? There are billions of people in the Multiverse. Why me?" Sara asked.

"You have a pure heart. You struggle with your insecurities, but at the end of the day, you have courage, and you fight with honor. But you must show the world what's inside your heart, and only then will you be loved for who you are. If you wear a mask, you can fool the world, but you cannot fool your heart."

"So now what?" Sara asked, looking up.

"Please do what I asked you to. This world needs to see reason. You must meet with the foe." The Soul pleaded.

"All right. So I have to help save this world and show everyone how to love. So I'm becoming a priestess. I'm a fighter though." Sara quipped to herself.

"That won't work, Sara. They will never listen to words. Actions speak louder than words after all. You must show them through combat." The Soul replied.

"So I fight then. Fair enough." Sara muttered.

"I will send you back now. And good luck." The Soul said kindly.

"Thanks. I'll…do this as best I can. Guess I have to fight with all my might." Sara shrugged.

"Before you take leave, listen very carefully to what I have to say." The Soul said, turning serious.

"Yeah?" Sara asked, turning to face it.

"From the Dawn of Time I have stood here. Now you must answer the call to engage. In the face of evil defiant, you and others must be the birth of an age!"

The world began fading and Sara closed her eyes, the words echoed in her mind.


Sara opened her eyes with a gasp. Looking around, she saw she was back in the tent and everyone was looking at her.

"How long was I out for?" she asked.

"About an hour." The Elder replied, looking at the much younger woman with a proud smile.

"Oh!" Sara said in realization.

"What did the Soul of the World say?" the Elder pressed.

"It just said that…I have to save this world and guide its people 'cause they all hate each other." Sara explained.

The Elder got a thoughtful look on his face and said. "This is most unprecedented. So you have to help us?"

"Yeah, to show everyone that there is more than hatred and bitterness. But I don't know if I can do it." Sara looked down.

"I believe you can, Ms. Lance. You are stronger than you believe. You must stand your ground, make the earth quake."

"I hope so too. Thank you all for helping me." Sara said gratefully, looking at them all.

"You are very welcome, Ms. Lance. I believe you should get some rest first." The Elder said.

"No kidding." Sara murmured, her very bones aching.


The next day

Sara rubbed her eyes. Even though she had slept, she still felt exhausted. That, combined with finding a relic and helping an entire world, made her feel like the Greek Titan Atlas, who had to hold up the world on his shoulders.

"Breaking my heart of stone, taking over like its Jericho. And my walls are crashing down." Sara muttered to herself.

Sara looked into the mirror she was and pulled a dagger out of her boot. Taking a deep breath, she began cutting her blonde hair, letting the golden locks fall to the ground.

"If I'm going to save an entire world, I need to be loyal, brave and true. Losing is easy, winning takes bravery," Sara said to herself. "I'm out in the open, no one to save me, the kindest whispers are cruel."

Sara straightened her now much shortened blonde hair, looking at the mirror with determination.

"Time to be loyal, brave and true." Sara repeated, and she knew what it all meant.

Loyalty to her allies. Brave even in the darkest of times. And she needed to always stay true to herself.


"Ms. Lance." The Elder said, stepping up to face her. In his hands was a sword of vibrant silver color. A green gem was embedded in the pommel, and it glinted in the morning sun.

"This sword is made of Ionian steel, and enchanted. Which means it will glow when Demons or evil spirits are nearby." He explained.

"And assholes, right?" Sara cracked.

"No, just Demons." He replied.

"Thank you," Sara said. "I generally don't like killing people."

"And I hope you never have to," the Elder said. "But on your long, incredible journey, remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."

"I'll take that to heart." Sara grinned.

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule." The Elder said gently.

"This just seems so daunting. It's a big world, and everyone seems to hate each other." Sara said sadly.

"Runeterra is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands and countries, love is mingled with grief, fear and hate, it still grows, perhaps, the greater." He counselled.

"I suppose I should get started then." Sara shrugged.

"You may not wish too, but it's the job that's never started that takes longest to finish." He continued.

"True." Sara admitted.

"On this long and great journey, you will face many dangers, toils and snares. But the Soul of the World is wrong about the champions of Runeterra. It was grace that brought them safe thus far, and grace will lead them home." The Elder said ominously.

Sara looked at him curiously, wondering what he meant by that. And she still couldn't get the image of the pink and blue haired girls fighting the masked man out of her head.

"Thank you." She smiled at him.

"You are certainly welcome, Sara. We are probably never going to encounter each other ever again. So I would like to say this." The Elder said.

"Say what?" Sara asked, though she felt sadness on hearing that, knowing it was true.

"May there always be Angels to watch over you. To guide you each step of the way. To guard you and keep you safe from all harm." The Elder said proudly.

Sara had tears in her eyes at this point, knowing it was true.

"A promise lives within you now," he continued. "May it be the shadow's call will fly away. May it be you journey on to light the day. When the night is overcome, you may rise to find the sun."

"I will." Sara said, silently vowing not to fail. "I'm holding on to this wasted love, so I'll remember the way we were. This is a new world, a hundred thousand things to see. I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far, I can't go back to the way I used to be.

"We must depart from here. I wish you luck on your journey. And remember, faithless is she that says farewell when the road darkens." He kissed her forehead.

"Thank you." She said.

Sara strapped her bag to her shoulder and began walking away. Now, a new journey began.


Earth-1999999, Avengers Tower, present day

Sara paused from her tale, as Sinthea, Ava, Peter, Spider-Man, Mary Jane, Hughie and Starlight all looked at her with shock.

"Holy crap." Hughie muttered, shocked by the tale so far.

"What happened next?" Ava pressed, excited to hear more.

"A really long and hard journey." Sara sighed tiredly.

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked.

"Because guys, now you see me standing in the lights, but you never saw my sacrifice, or all the nights I had to struggle to survive. I had to lose it all to win the fight; I had to fall so many times." Sara said.

"Damn." Sinthea muttered to herself, both worried and curious for her friend.

"Let's get back to the tale." Sara said.

"Yeah." Peter nodded.

Sara paused and said. "But I was the last one standing."


And this is done too. One journey has ended, and now another, even longer journey has begun. This chapter begins the birth of a new age.

Hope all the interactions were enjoyed in this, they were fun to write.

So Sara has now cut her hair, symbolizing the beginning of her new journey. She has the same hairstyle as Natasha in Avengers: Infinity War.

As the last line hinted at, Sara is gonna have to lose it all to win the fight and she'll have to fall so many times.

And yes, the Soul of Runeterra has tasked Sara to help all the different nations on Runeterra learn to live together, since in the lore, almost everyone despises everyone else.

Especially in this series, for reasons that will be explained later. I have an explanation for why the hatred and bitterness is higher than usual.

As stated in this chapter, Lissandra was tasked to be the world's Champion, but obviously, it didn't go according to plan.

Even though COIE is the overall threat and will be the ultimate endgame in this series, I still think the Soul of Runeterra would consider the Void to be the greatest threat to it.

That scene with the pink and blue haired girls was a little reference to the upcoming show 'Arcane'.

I am super excited for Arcane. Vi and Jinx are some of my faviroute champions and I'm really excited to see what the show does with them. And Jayce, Caitlyn and Viktor being involved is icing on the cake.

So I will be doing my own version of Arcane in this story, with Sara added to spice things up. I still need to work out my timeline so that it properly fits first though.

Though I can confirm that Sara will be involved in my version of it, and will play a huge role in the plot.

Still, I am really excited for Arcane. I hope it is really good.

Ava, Sinthea, Hughie and the rest will only have one more appearance in this story. This was just to show that a new journey begins.

Anyway, next chapter is where the plot begins moving forward at last, so this is where the fun begins.

Hope everyone enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.