Substitute

"WHAT!? GOD D..." Irelia dropped her head to her desk and groaned. Taking a deep breath, the Ionian tried to restore her composure before speaking into the phone in her right hand.

"What happened to her?" The warrior asked.

"I'm not too sure about the details myself, but it had something to do with a summoner error..."

"Well... Is she alright?" Irelia asked after a few moments of silence.

"Ahri?" The voice at the other end of the line spoke, "Yeah, she should make a full recovery. There is definitely no way she can make it for tomorrows match though, we will need to find a substitute for our mid lane..."

Unable to suppress her frustration, Irelia heaved a heavy sigh before speaking into the phone.

"Any ideas, Soraka?" Irelia inquired, sounding hopeful. Sadly, the healer quickly extinguished the small glimmer of hope in her voice.

"Sorry, 'relia, I would say ask Kennen or Akali, but both of them are back home in Ionia for the off season." Static filled the telephone as Soraka heaved a sigh similar to Irelia's. "Well..." The healer continued after a short pause, "We could just withdraw... I mean the tournament we put together was just a little fun competition anyways... Besides-"

"No!" Irelia interrupted abruptly. "We should stick this through to the end."

On the opposite side of the phone, Soraka let out a small chuckle. She knew full well that Irelia would never choose to give up on a competition, it simply went against her nature.

"Maybe you could take mid?" Irelia inquired, sounding doubtful about her own suggestion.

"Me?!" Soraka questioned almost incredulously. "No no no no no. Besides, I already promised Varus that I would be supporting him in the tournament..."

"We even made it all the way to the finals..." Irelia grumbled with frustration.

"Well..." Soraka spoke up hesitantly.

"What?" Irelia questioned immediately

"There is one person that could take mid lane..." Soraka paused before quickly adding on "You definitely won't like it though..."

"Who!" Irelia demanded instantly, sounding hopeful once more.

"Syndra..."

Irelia's heart sank instantly upon hearing the name. Syndra was definitely a person that she preferred to avoid whenever possible. Though she didn't know her well, Irelia had heard enough rumors about Syndra's instability along with her caustic attitude.

" 'relia?" Soraka questioned hesitantly.

"Oh, uh... sorry?" Irelia quickly replied as her attention quickly snapped back to their conversation.

"You're not seriously going to ask her are you?" Soraka inquired.

...

...

...

" 'relia..." Soraka spoke in a suddenly concerned tone.

"It's not like we have a better option." Irelia replied, sounding more confident than she actually was.

"You can't be serious..." Soraka started before Irelia cut her off.

"I am." The warrior stated flatly. Static filled the line again as Soraka heaved an exasperated sigh.

"Well... Just be careful... okay?" Soraka replied, sounding slightly nervous.

"Yeah... I'll see you tomorrow." Irelia answered and hung up the phone.

Here goes nothing... Irelia thought to herself.

Although the Institute of War offered all manners of housing for its champions, Syndra was among the few that resolutely refused to move into one of their apartments. Far too prideful and much to spiteful of the other champions, the sovereign chose to stay in her own home, namely the floating fortress that she had ripped out of Ionia's soil. As Irelia strode up the floating stone steps to the castle, she felt a sense of unease wash over her; a feeling of dread which could only be attributed to the deathly aura of the fortress itself. However, the Ionian steeled herself and continued up the path, resolutely determined to accomplish her goal.

Upon reaching the ominous front gates to the fortress, Irelia reached out and hammered powerfully on the ghoulish black metal. The pounding created a hollow ring that reverberated throughout the entire fortress.

Silence.

Though she usually had a fair amount of patience, Irelia found herself unusually agitated. She pounded the gates again, creating more obnoxious ringing.

Again, only silence rewarded her efforts.

Annoyed, Irelia backed away slightly, intending to smash the door open if she had to. Gritting her teeth, Irelia steeled her will and tensed her muscles in preparation to break the gate down... Until the gate creaked open slightly. Even further annoyed, Irelia rolled her eyes as she rudely shoved the gate open entirely and wandered into the fortress courtyard. Instantly, Irelia felt dwarfed by the massive, ominous walls that towered over the courtyard in an intimidating manner. Again, the warrior swallowed the lump in her throat. Clearing her throat slightly, Irelia mustered the courage to shout.

"SYNDRA!" She yelled. Her voice bounced about the courtyard , creating an echo.

Silence...

Breathing in again, Irelia prepared to shout again until an annoyed voice spoke out from behind her.

"Shut up. You're too loud."

Whirling instantly, Irelia searched for the source of the hollow, annoyed voice. It only took a few moments to find it. Perched atop a watchtower was Syndra, laying on her stomach with her head cradled in the palms of her hands. It was evident that Syndra had been sitting there for a long time and had definitely heard Irelia's knocks; only she chose to entirely ignore the warrior's attempts to grab her attention. Mildly annoyed, the mage spoke again.

"What do you fools want from me now?"

Irelia cringed slightly at Syndra's caustic greeting, but she was already far too annoyed with the sovereign to allow Syndra to bully her around.

"We need you." Irelia stated flatly in a voice that clearly exhibited her annoyance over the fact that she actually needed the sovereign's aid. Syndra laughed in response to Irelia's statement, her cold, hollow voice echoed gratingly off the walls of her fortress.

"Of course you need me." Syndra stated with a cocky, twisted smile. "The real question is... What is it that I need?"

Irelia frowned at the sovereign's lack of humility, or rather lack of even the slightest amount of politeness. With a short breath, Irelia quickly recomposed herself.

"You don't need anything." Irelia replied, making small shooing motion with her hand. "Besides, weren't you the one who loved being sent to the fields in order to 'show off'?"

Instantly, Syndra's mouth twisted into a scowl; the Ionian was doing a good job of pushing her buttons. Even more, she was brushing her off. Her. The Dark Sovereign. Rising from her perch atop the tower, Syndra gently glided down to the courtyard floor. The moment her feet touched the ground, an explosive amount of raw power erupted from fortress as well as Syndra herself. With a swift gesture, Syndra brought the free floating energy about her, creating a demonic purple aura.

"YOU are the one asking ME for help." Syndra spat angrily, "Remember that fact, worm."

A part of Irelia was tempted to continue prodding the sovereign with subtle insults, but Irelia held her tongue, knowing that Syndra was actually right.

"Alright, alright..." Irelia sighed, rolling her eyes with exasperation and trying to appear unimpressed by Syndra's display of power.

"Just show up at ten tomorrow at The Rift, alright?" Irelia finished.

A brief moment of silence passed as Syndra skeptically folded her arms, raising one hand to her chin as she weighed her options. On one hand, going to the rift implied she would be fighting alongside Ionia in their petty games. On the other hand, she was bored. Really bored. Subconsciously, Syndra frowned as she tried to come up with more reasons not to help Ionia. Maybe-

"Please?" Irelia hesitantly interrupted Syndra's train of thought.

Instantly, Syndra's looked back up at the warrior.

"What?" Syndra snapped, unsure if Irelia had even said anything.

"Please." Irelia repeated uncomfortably. "It's the finals..."

Syndra blinked quizzically before returning to being rude and abnoxious.

"Why are you still here?" She inquired in a mildly offensive tone.

"Umm..." Irelia stuttered as she tapped the toe of her boot on the floor, awkwardly waiting for an answer from the mage.

"Well...?" Irelia pushed, trying to get some form of confirmation from Syndra.

"I'll think about it." Syndra snapped, annoyed with Irelia's persistence. "Now get out before I throw you out."

Although she wasn't entirely satisfied with Syndra's answer, Irelia had little choice but to comply with the sovereign's wishes. Staying would clearly only push the mage towards refusing her request.

"Alright..." Irelia sighed almost disappointedly as she turned and slouched out the door, feeling as though she had failed.

When Irelia disappeared from her sight, Syndra scowled again.

"Ionians..." Syndra spat viciously before turning around and vanishing into the depths of her castle.