She liked summer least among the four seasons, but she couldn't deny that the long periods of daylight conveniently allowed them to bask in the beauty of nature and the outdoors for extended periods of time. The rivers carried off the melted ice which broke off the mountains in winter, the streams trickling down towards the ocean and carrying all manners and colors of koi and trout and other fish. And the songbirds who made their nests high atop the trees in the evergreen forest conducted their symphony with touching inspiration, the notes taken up by other animals on the ground as they darted in and out of the shade which filled the clearing where they sat. The fox sitting opposite Irelia picked up the melody, humming a few measures to herself as she and Irelia watched two figures go at each other again and again, sparring with bamboo staves.

Wukong wielded his weapon with unmatched dexterity, easily blocking his opponent's attempts to bypass his guard and land a blow on him, but Irelia sensed that his adversary held back his full strength. Jax did show his mastery of weapons, although she noticed a distinct change in his fighting style, an almost laid-back, relaxed the other hand, Wukong moved with boundless energy and vitality, and Irelia saw the shadow of the deceased Wuju master in his staff. Wuju always needs a master, Irelia remembered, and the monkey had become the last person on Valoran to follow its path. But Yi had emphasized the necessity to pass its teachings down to another, and she wondered where Wukong would find such a student. It didn't look like Jax needed any lessons any time soon. The grandmaster hadn't lost his sense for finding errors in others' movements, and when Wukong took one step too far out, a switch had turned on in Jax's head. With a flap of his robes, he had pinned the monkey to the ground, a knee on the primate's chest and Jax's staff at his throat.

"Alright, uncle, uncle!" Wukong cried out, and Jax rose from the ground, lending a hand to his rival.

The kumiho turned to Irelia, taking a bite out of a peach, just one of the many fruits the group had brought on their excursion. "You are familiar with the legend of Wu Zugao, correct?"

Irelia nodded. "At the start of any swordsman's training, the schools here always share the stories of the Heroes of the Four Swords. Hu Tian, the Heavenswept, from whom the Hiten style comes; Jun Feng, the Watcher of the Wind; Li Shui, the Water Dancer; and Wu Zugao, the Unbreakable and the first practitioner of the Wuju style." Her father had instilled the lives of the ancient heroes into her mind, not because of their literary merit, but because all Ionian fighting style stemmed from the techniques of the four heroes, and to know the other three styles allowed one to know the basis of their opponent's moves.

"I see," Ahri said, watching the two combatants go for another round. "I had only recently started looking into the mythology of Ionia, and his story interested me. The legend said he had never lost a battle?"

She tried to recall how the texts went. Details of each story differed depending on the background of the historian, and followers of the first Wuju master often exaggerated his exploits. "All the ancient authors agreed that he had the most prolific battle record, although some say Hu Tian or Jun Feng matched him in skill. What we do know for sure is that after the period of the Warring Kingdoms, Wu Zugao had withdrawn to a small cabin within the mountains. Many aspiring swordsmen went up there, and he challenged each one to a fight where he would only use one hand. If they won, he would share his wisdom with them. He sent a hundred men back empty-handed, but -"

"Yes, I know this part," Ahri interrupted. "His student expected to learn some secret maneuver or special technique, but he only gave him one sentence. 'Learn the art of defeat.' The kid was really confused, but who can blame him? What kind of advice is that?"

Irelia threw her arms back behind her head, leaning against the large root of the great oak. "It's a hotly contested point of debate amongst scholars to this very day. Some say Wu Zugao wanted to hide his secrets, others think that the line meant for people to understand their limits."

"That's what you would call a maxim, not a teaching," a frustrated Ahri huffed. "It is of little consequence for people who seek to grow stronger."

"It's important to know what you're capable of before going into battle, though," Irelia argued. "But I'm no sage. Either way, you have me curious about something. What prompted your interest in our past? Were you looking for something that could explain your origins?"

The kumiho caught Irelia's eye for a second before turning away, her gaze back onto the sparring which Jax had won a second time. "Something like that. I was more interested in the philosophy of it all, about actually coming to terms with my humanity." She looked at her hands, wiggling her fingers as if she had just seen them today. "It's easy to lose yourself in what you're doing when you have to provide sustenance for yourself in such a sensual way. But I will never forget the events that led me to where I am now. Unfortunately, with the Institute gone, I lost one avenue into understanding my true nature."

Irelia thought back to that fateful day, too caught up in the intensity of the moment to grasp the widespread consequences of the Institute's destruction. Though it had turned against them in the end, it provided a failsafe to the ever-present threat of Noxus flexing its military muscle, and with Demacia's leadership in ruins, she knew Ionia could not rest for long.

Ahri seemed to sense the turbulence in Irelia's mind, nestling up to her. "It probably opened up a whole new purview for you, too, didn't it? I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have all those formerly lost memories suddenly restored to you, especially considering their significance."

"It's… a lot to think about," Irelia admitted. "One has to wonder how expensive the price of peace is, both inner and outer."

"Mm," came the fox's response, suddenly pushing herself away from Irelia at the sound of the two fighters heading their way. "My apologies, Jax, I would never have thought to steal your woman away." She tossed a banana from the basket to Wukong, who eagerly caught it in his hands. Rummaging around for a second, Ahri pulled out another item, offering it to Jax. "Grapefruit?"

When the two had left, Irelia found herself dipping her toes in the stream, eager to cool off from the day's heat. Jax sat beside her, idly glancing at their reflections upon the lucid surface of the water.

"Thinking about catching some fish?" she inquired as a pinkish-orange salmon swam between her feet.

"Not exactly." He swung his legs back onto the stone slab on which they sat, reclining along the ground. "He's still out there, I'm sure of it, and you saw what he could do to champions. A devastating skillset like his is sure to come into the hands of the highest bidder, and I'm afraid to see what a country could do with his ambition."

"I was thinking about the same problem," she confessed, flicking the surface with her big toe. The ripples temporarily blurred the image of her reflection staring back at her. "Now that there's no Institute to stop war, there's nothing standing in the way from Noxus rekindling its imperialistic designs."

"Our dilemmas are likely going hand-in-hand," Jax mused. "We've got a lot on our plate in the near future, and I hate to break it to you, but Ionia is going to have to a lot of heavy lifting this time around if you don't wish to see a repeat of the invasion from eight years ago."

Irelia had already accepted the grim reality. "I know. This time I will be ready." She turned to face him. "You'll be with me to help out, won't you?"

He took her hand in his, the warmth emanating from his glove. "Of course. I'm confident in your abilities to lead Ionia's forces. I'm confident in the tenacity of your people to not let the world go the way Noxus dictates. I trust you."

She wanted to say she trusted him back, and Irelia couldn't think of any reason not to place her absolute faith in the man who had saved her life countless times, but despite all the experiences they had gone through, and the intimacy they shared, that stupid hood had stuck on him, and she couldn't reconcile a statement of trust when that obstacle remained. So she decided to settle the matter once and for all.

"What are you really hiding underneath that?" She gestured to the offending garment, leveling her finger at it like an accuser condemns a criminal.

"We had gotten along so well without you bringing up that issue."

"I had assumed some kind of unsightly injury, or deformity, but you should know me by now, Jax." Her voice was steady, ready to accept whatever she would find, but she would not take another refusal.

"It's nothing of the sort," he dismissed. "Like I said, I trust you - it actually took me a while to make up my mind about it, but I'd be a fool not to, considering where we are now. You should prepare yourself," he warned, reaching for the lapel of his robes.

She had considered herself ready for years. Ready to take on the trials and tribulations which the League presented, ready to get past every creature the architect had sent to take them down, ready to face all her fears and nightmares when they resurfaced to haunt her.

Nothing could prepare her for his true face.

And Irelia could not look away, her eyes riveted to the otherworldly spectacle which looked back at her.

"Subject #00782 delivered to the room from docking station."

"Confirming reception. Subject's body in critical condition, burn marks all over upper arms. Chest is heavily bruised. A deep cut ranging from upper thigh to just below the kneecap."

"All categorized as non-lethal injuries. Requesting Protocol H be administered to subject at once."

"Pending Overseer approval."

"..."

"Granted. Preliminary laser scans initiated."

"You may need to remove the mask to complete the retinal analysis."

"Affirmative. Facial recognition process completed. Retinal aspects saved, currently duplicating. Oracle vision implemented. Depth perception parameters reinstated, increased by a magnitude of 2.25."

"What will you do with the shadows?"

"..."

"Central Command? Are you still there?"

"Teleportation processes...undergoing some difficulty. Will need to reassess the swap dynamic in the cross-dimensional - BZZT"

"Command? What's going on over there?"

"BZZT… never told us they were alive! BZZT -"

Static fills the transmission for several seconds. A scream is heard, followed by the sound of scuffling and another louder scream as some kind of blade tears through skin.

"Command? Do you copy?"

"..."

"..."

"PROJECT Prototype finalized."

A/N: Look at that new PROJECT skin trailer and tell me that isn't hype.

Alright. Now we're done. I do not claim to be an expert in anything Chinese and I made up all the names - if you want actual Ionian/Chinese background go check out Caccus' Ionian Origins: Black Blades of the Blood Moon, an excellent story in its own right.

In this author note I wanted to talk about my thought process as I went into writing Trinity. Which, I have to confess, was basically nothing at the start. The story used to be called Trinity Force just because it was going to be about Jax and Irelia interacting cause I thought it would be interesting to see what they thought of each other's fighting styles (I've picked up Jax and he was quite easy to get into since I played a ton of Irelia). The first chapter barely brings in any conflict and I fear that might not have attracted a lot of readers if they're anything like me. I drop stories easily, not because I wouldn't be interested, but because I have a short attention span when it comes to fanfiction.

The bar scene at Gragas' is just a generic plot device to bring about any sort of conflict I could think of and the first thing was "hey, let's blow it up and make the story super dark all of a sudden." That was good, but then I had to figure out who would actually be behind it and what their motivations would be. I didn't want another story about the Void or Noxus being evil, so I thought around for a bit, and decided wouldn't it be great to have a story with Irelia as the protagonist fight against Morello? And thus the nerfing concept came through. For anyone curious, here's the list of nerfs which Riot actually issued out corresponding with characters in the story:

Syndra - Dark Sphere damage reduced and hitbox on Scatter the Weak 'stricter' (5.1)

Sona - Base movement speed reduced and Hymn of Valor's Staccato damaged lowered (5.1)

Veigar - Event Horizon now has a 0.75 second delay (5.4)

Janna - Tailwind passive changed to only give allies a speed boost when they move towards Janna (5.4). She's still OP as hell I'm repping that 64% win rate ez game

Azir - Conquering Sands base damage reduced. Soldier range on Arise! changed from 400 to 325 (5.3).

Xerath - Maximum stun duration on Shocking Orb lowered from 2.25 to 1.75 seconds (5.4)

Nidalee - Base health and health per level lowered (5.7); damage on Javelin Toss lowered (5.15)

Jarvan IV - Passive armor from Demacian Standard removed (5.4). I'm still salty about this because my jungle clear is now less than stellar.

Akali - Crescent Slash no longer triggers Mark of the Assassin's secondary damage. Shadow Dance range lowered. (5.2)

Sejuani - % max health damage on Flail of the Northern Winds reduced. By a lot. (5.6, 5.10)

Zed - Base attack speed and attack speed growth lowered. Death Mark now has a 1 second cooldown before it can be used to swap back to the original shadow (5.9)

I was hesitant to touch upon nerfs towards other new champions because, well, they were newly released during the making of the story. Azir was an exception because he played a pivotal role in the plot though.

The story floundered around with nothing really happening until Chapter 8, where they fight the Dreamweaver. I had no idea what I was doing really and trying to make a bunch of intrigue with Jax and Twisted Fate having a lot of background information while researching up the champions and trying to find out which would be good targets for Myrelos and the Deeper Void creatures to target. The addition of Zed into the mix was quite a gamble, although I'm glad he ended up with a not so insignificant side story.

I reread Chapter 9 where Jax and Zed head over to Piltover and it's a lot less serious than the last chapters of Trinity. Whoops. It was still in its comical stage then, with the drinking contest between them and it's laughable to see the change in mood as the story progresses. The Delta Syndicate is basically an extension of Myrelos' network, if you couldn't tell, operating under the guise of being an organization bent on anarchy when really they were looking to target Janna the whole time. I don't know what I was thinking with the Zeta Maze, I just needed an environment where Zed could nearly go insane.

I think my best chapter was honestly the one where they fight the Drakorazer up on Mount Targon, mostly because of Leona's epic story about the past of the Solari and Lunari. It inspired me to write some more background to the world.

I do regret that Xerath and Renekton didn't actually do anything. It was confusing trying to work around that plot point where they were supposed to meet Azir, but not actually because the real villain is the Institute here and I didn't want them to fight each other, so I thought of using that illusion tactic and it sort of worked out. Rammus is the best character in this story by far, unfortunately he's chilling in Shurima after the battle.

Malzahar and Kassadin not at each others' throats might be an interaction I glossed over too conveniently. I try to justify it with the fact that they both realize that the Deeper Void creatures are a much more potent threat than stuff like Kog'Maw (and when you get down to it champs like Cho and Kog and Vel are downright hilarious, Kha'Zix is the only one who seems like a real threat). But yeah, that could've used some more background and not just "HEY I'M MALZAHAR AND HERE'S STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW"

I had absolutely no plan for Jax before I realized that the whole point of the story is to figure out who he is, why he's in the Institute, why is he such a badass, and what is his relation to Myrelos. In the final chapters I try to write about that but the concept was basically neglected for the first half of the story, especially since it's told from Irelia's perspective. Also I wasn't originally going to buy into that whole Darkin origin thing but in the final chapter flashbacks he straight up runs into Aatrox. It has repercussions on his character but it's not what you think! This is why making a plot outline is so important - I felt there were no really big twists besides when I killed off random champs. In the same manner I wasn't confident about Irelia's character growth during the first half of the story but it was easier to write down her thoughts when she's a point of view character and I could create this persona of a girl who was scarred by losing everyone she loved and making sure she wouldn't be weak so the same thing wouldn't happen with Jax.

Ezreal's character got a lot deeper than I expected, too. He's the guy with the good intentions that really wants to do well but he's just not as skilled as the main heroes but in Chapter 26 he finally gets some more backstory about how he befriended Garen and they had a brotherly relation until the latter's untimely death. Rest in peace.

I don't think I explored Janna too much even though she basically had the fourth most screen time. She differs from doting mother support figure to flirtatious blonde and there always seems to be hints of Ezreal x Janna but it's not the intention. I don't know what kind of guy Janna would go well with. Most of the canon stuff (or whatever would make a lot of sense) doesn't interest me.

A fun fact: Twisted Fate/Kassadin/Vayne/Fiora show up for the first battle, and then pretty much leave the story until the end. It ended up being a pretty cool parallel, but it makes no sense for them to be doing nothing while Irelia and Jax are out defeating monsters all over the continent. Probably a mistake by me but I didn't really want Fiora to be part of the main group at least, it'd show some author bias because they are literally my three favorite top laners.

Can't say a lot about Zed. He was supposed to be the anti-hero who undergoes a drastic personality change but in the end wasn't really bad, but he's still kind of a murderous ninja bent on destroying the Kinkou, and basically he was just MIA for half the story and still is. Only Kalista knows what's up with him and all I can tell you is that their work is not yet finished.

That's the behind-the-scenes look. There was supposed to be an arc where they went to Ionia and that was why the Kinkou were thrown in at the end, cause originally the gang + Zed would all congregate in Ionia and there they would find the truth, but I decided to condense that into simply heading for the Institute. All the unfinished business in Chapter 27 and the Epilogue just screams sequel, although I might get around to working on Dauntless first, or even just a whole new story because I want to write about other characters now lol. Jax was probably the most fun character to write, second probably being Fiora because endgame Fiora was just a complete badass and third is a tie between Rammus and Rengar. Heh.

The Ahri in the epilogue is something I've always wanted to write - inquisitive, seriously philosophical, brooding, and not at all like the playful flirty type you typically see, although you can still make out traces of her usual personality. The peach she was eating is a direct reference to the story The Peach Tree.

This was supposed to be a super profound author's note but in the end it just ended up being a bunch of rambling. I do wonder what you guys think of the actual plot development because in my eyes it needed some work. Feel free to ask me any other questions you had, if it's not too related to plot points that are kept ambiguous to the readers I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks again to everyone for keeping up with me, and a special shoutout to MidsummerMoonlight99 - your reviews every chapter since like 13 really helped me get the motivation I needed to continue on. I'll be around to write more, you can count on that.

Until next time!