Therapy session in the woods

Kayn didn’t quite remember, how Akali and he managed to run away from Vayne and how they managed to get into the woods, because he had to use all his willpower to be himself. Rhaast was mocking and sneering in his brain, shouting insults at him, at Akali and raging relentlessly.

She is intrigant and false! A dumb slut, who don’t deserve you! She is a lying, filthy, dirty whore! You are so dumb to actually believe her words! She is not in love with you! You don’t need her love anyways! She just wants your cock for her pleasure and will manipulate you, so you think she likes you, before she rans off to someone else and betray you! Stop running behind her, like a little dog!

But Kayn followed Akali, who just did the probably stupidest thing you could do on vacation. Pissing off Vayne was one thing and it was not very wise. But actively run away from her, after she wanted to punish someone? That was a first.

If you get caught, Vayne will exhaust you again and who’s fault would that be? Akali! Akali is your doom, boy, can you finally understand it? She is false, she is manipulative, she uses your feelings to get to you and she doesn’t deserve a single bit of them!

“Here.”

Kayn felt Akali’s hand on his and grasped it a bit harder than usual.

“Here Kayn, sit down. We should be a bit safer here. I texted someone to help us, she should be here any minute. Can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” Kayn muttered, even though Rhaast screamed insults in his brain, as if he was trying to drown out Akali’s voice.

“Can you see me?”

Kayn wanted to say yes, but he couldn’t. He felt warm grass on his feet and heard birds chirping, he felt the last bit of the sun on his skin…but it all was blurry and fogged around him. Rhaast’s hate actively tried to blind him.

“Okay…but you’re still there, are you?” Akali asked concerned.

“I am trying,” Kayn said through gritted teeth. “He is…fucking annoying...and he is…stop to fight it!” Rhaast literally spat out the last words. “I am in control, Kayn. Your ridiculous efforts to banish me won’t work!”

“Kayn, I know you can hear me,” Akali said loudly. “Keep on annoying him. I know you can do it. You banished him already, remember? Last year, the first days? You showed me, what you can be. Remember you are Kayn, not Rhaast.”

“He will never be free from me!” Rhaast sounded triumphant. “And little memories won’t save him!”

“We’ll see about that,” Akali muttered grimly.

“Akali? Kayn?”

There was another voice, Kayn heard it. A female voice, worried and careful. Steps came closer, he heard leaves rustling and sticks breaking.

“Neeko, thank you for coming,” Akali sounded relieved. “Listen, I need your abilities to feel emotions for a moment.”

“What the fuck is going on, you look very concerned…” Neeko said. Kayn heard the little changeling-girl come through the nearby brushes and stopping in front of him.

“Kayn is currently struggling with himself,” Akali explained. “Rhaast is taking control of him again.”

“Oh no,” Neeko said worried. “That’s...not good? That’s not good at all right?”

“Not if we want a Kayn who isn’t that egoistic, possessive and overall, much more of an asshole than he could be.”

“So…what…you will...ehm...what, shall I do here?” Neeko said confused.

“I said it, I just want to know, what I can do,” Akali said and Kayn saw for a moment, how the two women stood there in front of him, both looking down on him rather troubled.

“Just touch him very briefly, check what I can do and leave the rest to me, will you?” Akali just said to Neeko.

“I...I guess…I guess, I can do that, yes,” Neeko muttered.

Kayn felt her drop to her knees and then felt her fingers touch his forehead. Neeko just had touched him, as she yelled out loud and jumped in surprise. Kayn didn’t feel any better or worse, Rhaast still raged inside his brain, but Neeko was utterly shocked.

“What?” Akali said, not less shocked by her reaction.

“I…I did…oh my god, that was a lot…!” Neeko said aghast. “That was fucking insane. Rhaast…Kayn…I-I-I couldn’t separate this…There was anger and pure wrath and concern and worries and fear and the will to triumph over each other…”

“Yeah, I figured that out too,” Akali muttered.

“But also affection and hope and love and a lot of sexual tension,” Neeko continued and had to shake herself. “That was way too much for a single person to bear. Kayn is close to give in to Rhaast entirely, if you ask me…”

“And I will, if this boy finally understands, he can’t win!” Rhaast spoke through Kayn once again and Neeko, who didn’t witness this yet, jumped in surprise.

“Oh no, he won’t, because he is stronger than you!” Akali hissed.

“I am wondering how Rhaast got this strong again,” Neeko muttered. “Isn’t this whole split personality thing only work through his scythe?”

A moment of silence prevailed in which Kayn tried his best to not give into Rhaast’s hate.

“Yeah,” Akali said slowly. “Where is his scythe actually? He didn’t have it as he walked in my room…”

“Left…in…my…room,” Kayn said, fighting for every word that come over his lips.

“I’ll get it,” Akali said and ran off. “Vayne would be suspicious if she sees you near his room, Neeko. Just stay here and keep an eye on him, will you?”

“Ehm…sure,” Neeko said, not entirely sure. “Please hurry, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be quick,” Akali said and sprinted off, back to the mansion.

Neeko stood there on the little glaring in the mansion-woods and tried her best to ignore Kayn sitting on a rock and visibly struggling with the entity inside him. He had screwed up his eyes and his hands were clenched to fists.

Neeko didn’t really know what she could do more than just watch this man fight against something only he could feel. Well, she could feel it as well. Maybe she should? Akali does seem to have a plan, but why should Neeko not use her abilities to feel what Kayn might help?

Carefully and very slowly, she came closer to the shaking man on the ground and hesitated. She reached out her hand again and came closer to his forehead.

“Come on, it is not dangerous to you,” Neeko muttered, trying to encourage herself a bit.

She hovered her fingers an inch away from Kayn’s forehead for maybe twenty seconds, then she pressed them against his skin.

A rush of hatred surged through her, like a wave of hot water, burning in her brain. There was so much unhuman wrath and fury, Rhaast was dominating Kayn’s mind with chaotic thoughts.

She is manipulative and false! She is a slut! You deserve better! You deserve them all!

Memories rushed through Neeko’s mind in flashy images. Akali, how she was yelling at him, angry about his behaviour. Akali, nude and clearly enjoying someone else, but not him. Akali looking disappointed and leaving his room.

But there was something else in all that chaos, Neeko felt. Feelings and emotions, she had felt during her first contact with Kayn too, but now where she concentrated on them, they became much clearer. Through all the hate and jealousy Neeko felt Kayn’s emotions for Akali and they couldn’t be compared to the emotions Rhaast had. There was remorse, about the things Kayn did to impress Akali. There was guilt and the realization that his actions had only pushed Akali away from him, instead of getting closer to her.

‘And I had feelings for you, Kayn. I really had.’

Lies! Lies! Lies!

Rhaast was raging, because of these words. That what made Kayn snap…

But Neeko also saw a ton of flashy images, all being rather intimate, showing how Akali and Kayn had sex before. And then Neeko saw through Kayn’s eyes, Akali standing in front of him touching his head, her eyes full of worries and understanding.

‘I have feelings for you. I really do. Let’s end this farce, okay?’

LIES! SHE IS LYING! THIS DUMB WHORE! SHE IS NOT IN LOVE YOU!

Neeko stopped to touch Kayn’s forehead and knelt down next to him. Her mouth was half opened, as she understood what bothered Kayn and what made him so **** for Rhaast’s reasoning.

“Kayn?” Neeko whispered. “You need to hear it from her, right? You need to be sure?”

Kayn didn’t answer, he just groaned out loud.

“Don’t listen to Rhaast, Kayn,” Neeko said encouragingly. “Think...about her. Think about Akali…she will help you.”

Akali couldn’t remember being ever this careful as she hasted through the mansion. She had gotten into Kayns room with ease, using the short-cut over the roof, where she knew that there were no cameras. His scythe was lying on his bed, glowing in a slight blue on the top, where blade and hilt ran together. With that, Akali sprinted back towards the woods, through bushes and over logs, until she found the little glaring again, where Neeko awaited her with a worried, yet determined face.

“I think, I know what bothers him!” Neeko greeted Akali as she was in hearing-range.

“Yeah, the fucking entity of Rhaast in his brain,” Akali said.

“No, more than that!” Neeko said urgently. “I think I know why all of that happened. He was so jealous and possessive about you because he has strong romantic feelings for you. But you never returned them fully, so he went out to impress you with showing how many women will want him, if you are not willing to make your relationship more serious.”

“Thanks, I noticed that myself,” Akali grumbled, apparently blushing slightly.

“Good, so all he needs is the truth,” Neeko said and smiled encouragingly. “If you mean it…I think it bring back Kayn and banish Rhaast. Rhaast was almost gone already as you two got so intimate with each other, but the fact you never wanted to make this relationship a serious one, brought him back, whispering all this stupid shit into Kayn’s brain.”

Akali nodded, still looking at him. “I mean it. I really mean it.” But did she? Relationship meant commitment. That sucked. Especially during vacation. Wasn’t the whole idea of this vacation to be a bit more open-minded and freer than usual?

“You want him, right?” Neeko asked, seemingly noticing Akali’s inner conflict. “You want him to feel better and be Kayn again.”

“Yes,” Akali said. At least that was undoubtfully true.

“So do it,” Neeko encouraged her again. “And…always remember a good relationship survives through the many new things you try. And you both are not blank pages.”

With a wink, she patted Akali on her shoulders and walked away.

Akali sighed and got near Kayn, who still sat on the ground, visibly shaking with his struggle: human against darkin.

“Kayn?” Akali said and put his scythe on his lap. “Can you hear me?”

Kayn nodded, his hands suddenly grabbing the hilt of his scythe. “I do…” he muttered.

“I know, we had a lot of conversations, but I guess, I never said the whole truth,” Akali said and closed her hands around his fist too. “I should’ve been honest, but I didn’t want to bind myself. I wanted to live free and just enjoy myself. I didn’t like your behaviour, but I didn’t see it was partially caused because I didn’t tell you I liked you so much.”

Kayn’s eyes shot up and for the first time since he stood in Akali’s room, one of them was bright blue.

“Tell me,” he said and it was a mix of Rhaast and Kayn’s voice together. “Tell me…you didn’t lie, did you? You said…you had feelings for me?”

“I have feelings for Kayn,” Akali said and looked deeply into his eyes. “For Kayn. Not Rhaast or whatever you are right now. He only brings out the worst features of you. Strong and hateful, might help you in the rift…but I rather prefer a Kayn who is sane and knows what he wants.”

Kayn closed his eyes and sighed. Then he opened them again and both his iris’ shined blue.

“You mean that?” he asked, now with less Rhaast in his voice.

“I love you, Kayn,” Akali said simply. “Of course, I mean it.” She leaned down to him and kissed him on the lips. Kayn returned the kiss and suddenly his scythe began to tremble.

Akali broke the kiss and watched how Kayn was screwing up his eyes again, his fists clenched around the hilt of his weapon.

“I am not going to let you out, once again, Rhaast!” he said loudly. “No! You won’t intervene anymore in my business, during vacation!”

He groaned and gasped, as his scythe suddenly turned scarlet red around the blade.

“I don’t care!” Kain shouted now, obviously still in conflict with Rhaast inside him. “I don’t need advises! You are a shit-dating-coach! Fuck off! You caused all that trouble, and I won’t be so dumb and trust you again in that regard!”

Kayn’s scythe glowed very red and Akali thought she heard a fainting scream of pain and anger. Then Kayn opened his eyes and looked up to Akali, both of his eyes completely blue. Akali returned the gaze and smiled faintly.

“Better?”

“Much better,” Kayn nodded and sighed. “I…I guess…I should excuse for my behaviour.”

“I guess we both should have been significant more honest to each other.”

“Yeah,” Kayn’s smile was a bit strained. “I guess that might help.”

They both looked at each other for a while. Then Kayn said almost sheepishly: “You’re good?”

“Yeah,” Akali muttered. “Just…I am glad we talked about that.”

“Well, I wasn’t all here, so I might have missed a point,” Kayn said and suddenly he had a very smug grin on his face.

Akali raised her eyebrows but smiled equally smug. “I love you, Kayn,” she said calmly. “And I don’t want you to believe, you need to impress me, with being a bad boy. We both are not very innocent, are we?”

“I guess not,” Kayn grinned and leaned towards her, grabbing her softly in her hair and pulling her to him.

They kissed again and this time it felt even better. Until…

“Well, isn’t that sweet,” a bored voice came from behind.

Akali and Kayn broke apart and looked around, to see that the dark woods around them got significant darker. The shadows seemed to be much stronger.

“Oh shit,” Kayn and Akali both muttered.

“Yeah,” the bored voice sounded to them again. “Shit happened. And you two are right in it.”

Red eyes appeared in the dark, before the helmet, the red and black robes and the blades on the hands followed. Zed, the master of shadows, crossed his arms as he stepped into the glaring.

“I am so sorry, to interrupt you two,” he said, still very bored. “What a wonderful idea to hide in the shadows of the woods. No one in this mansion is the master of them, right? Listen, I don't care, what you two are doing...but there are some people, who want to have a word with you.”

And he twitched his head to the side.

“Listen Zed…” Kayn said carefully.

“Shut up,” Zed said calmly. “You both are in so much trouble and you don’t need to explain yourself to me. I don’t care what you two were thinking, but this ridiculous little fight must stop right now.”

“I agree with Zed,” came another voice and Akali sighed as she saw, how Shen walked to them behind Zed. “What were you thinking? Akali, we know you’re reckless, but actively running away from Vayne? You know this won’t end good.”

“Where is she, guys?” Akali sighed. “I…we both need to talk to her.”

“Good, I really want to hear which excuse you come up with.”

Vayne’s voice was cold, and she looked more like a lioness on the hunt again, as an actual human being, as she walked towards them, significant louder than Shen or Zed. Behind her, and that didn’t lift either Kayn’s or Akali’s mood up, came Thresh. As he saw them, he smiled brightly (and in his case also terribly).

“Ah, there they are,” the chain warden said, and his smile got even wider.

“Explain yourself,” Vayne growled and pointed at Akali and Kayn. “Ekko called me, telling me, you both looked like you want to jump each other at the throats. Then I come in, you both say you have feelings for each other and flee together.”

“I couldn’t let you exhaust us, right there, even though we deserve it now,” Akali said and stood up. “Kayn…well…” She glanced at him asking for help.

“It was a combination of me, Akali and Rhaast, all together,” Kayn said shrugging. “I’ve been an idiot, Akali and I had a lot to talk over, Rhaast escalated the situation.”

Zed and Shen both shared a look under their masks. Thresh just hummed happily swinging his hook like a pendular. Vayne seemed not very pleased with that.

“And that was the reason you left your well-deserved pause?” she asked raising her eyebrows. “A little break from tackling, teasing and fighting with each other would have helped. I am sure of it.”

“In this case, I thought we both need to talk this out,” Akali said and took Kayn’s hand.

“Yeah, it was better this way,” Kayn nodded. “I promise I learned my lesson.”

“Me too,” Akali said.

Vayne stared at them. Then she raised her glove and sighed. “Fine. You learned your lesson. How wonderful. At least this time, no one else got involved into your silly fights. Twelve hours. I hope you enjoy it.”

And she shot two blasts of orange light, which hit Kayn and Akali in their chests. Both groaned as the exhaust-spell enveloped them entirely and the pressure **** them into the grass.

“Thresh, carry them please,” Vayne ordered, ignoring the moans and groans from Kayn and Akali, who couldn’t move at all, even if they tried. “Shen, Zed: Thanks for your help. Without you these two would probably still ‘talk’ a bit too much.”

“No problem,” Shen said. Zed just snorted.

“And Akali?” Vayne said, as Thresh happily grabbed both exhausted champions and put them under his arms. “One more step over the line and you’ll get a room in the sewers.”

“Promised, Vayne,” Akali said through gritted teeth.

“Same for you, Kayn,” Vayne said. “Although I think, I get an even better room for you in the old ****-chambers, if you don’t behave.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that,” Thresh said cheerfully.

“Don’t you think, you exaggerate a little bit, Vayne?” Shen asked carefully. "They just had a fight..."

“I just want a relaxed vacation for anyone, is that so hard to understand?” Vayne sighed loudly. “And if someone is consequently denying the ‘relaxed’ part, I will take action.”

“Promised, this was the last time!” Akali and Kayn both said simultaneously.

“I hope so,” Vayne growled. “Because I want some time to relax too and not always stand on attention.”